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Digitized by the Internet Archive 
in 2010 with funding from 
The Library of Congress 



http://www.archive.org/details/boysprescottconqOObank 



THE BOYS' PRESCOTT 




"Cortes' men were across the drawbridge and once more in 
Tenochtitlan"— Pfl^e WI^ 



THE 

BOYS' PRESCOTT 

THE CONQUEST OF MEXICO 

BY 

HELEN WARD BANKS 



WITH TWELVE ILLUSTRATIONS IN COLOR BY 

T. H. ROBINSON 



"I am constant to my purposes" 
— Hamlet 




NEW YORK ^ 

FREDERICK A. STOKES COMPANY 

PUBLISHERS 






Copyright, 1916, hy 
Frederick A. Stokes Company 

All rights reserved 



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AilG -7 191B 



©CIA 413713 9 



TO 

MABEL, SALLIE, AND FRANCINA 



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CHAPTEB 

I 

II 

III 

IV 

y 

VI 

VII 

VIII 

IX 

X 

XI 

XII 

XIII 

XIV 

XV 

XVI 

XVII 

XVIII 

XIX 

XX 

XXI 

XXII 

XXIII 

XXIV 



CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Hernando Cortes Before His Chance Came 1 

The Chance That Came to Cortes ... 9 

Cortes Comes to Cozumei. 18 

The Great Battle of Tabasco .... 28 
Cortes Enters into Negotiations with 

Montezuma . 34? 

The Early History of Anahuac ... 42 

The Customs op the Aztecs 51 

Cortes' New Commission . . ^ . . . 63 

Cortes Sinks His Ships ...... 73 

Cortes Enters Tlascala 84 

The Battle of the Pass 93 

The Defeat of Xicotencatl .... 99 

The Massacre of Cholula Ill 

The March to Mexico . . . . . . 121 

Cortes Meets Montezuma ...... 128 

Maunche in Mexico ........ 135 

Cortes' Coup d'Etat 147 

Cacama Sends a Challenge 154 

Cortes Plants the Cross in Mexico . . . 162 

The New Expedition of Velasquez . . . 170 

Cortes Goes Back to Cempoalla .... 178 

Cortes Crushes Narvaez 188 

What Alvarado Did in Tenochtitlan . .196 

The Fury of the Mexicans 202 

vii 



viii CONTENTS 

CHAPTEH PAGE 

XXV Cortes Is Besieged in the Palace of Axaya- 

CATL .209 

XXVI The Storming of the Great Temple . . 218 

XXVII "The Melancholy Night" . . . .. . 229 

XXVIII On the Plains of Otumba 237 

XXIX Maxixca Saves Cortes . . . . . [., 243 

XXX Cortes Takes Tezcuco 250 

XXXI The Bringing of the Brigantines . . . 259 

XXXII Cortes Picks out His Positions .... 265 

XXXIII Cortes Plans His Blockade 276 

XXXIV Cortes Besieges Tenochtitlan .... 283 

XXXV The Last Assault 289 

XXXVI The Conquest of Mexico . . . . . 296 



ILLUSTRATIONS 

"Cortes' men were across the drawbridge and once , 

more in Tenochtitlan" Frontispiece 

FACING PAGE 

"Hernando Cortes, Captain-General of the expedition sent 
to conquer Mexico" 16 

*'The Indians flung at them arrows and blazing torches as 

they struggled to find a footing on the slippery, muddy / 

banks" So'' 

"With one accord the arms went up and the cries rang out, 
'To Mexico! To Mexico!'" 82 

"But although Montezuma was still an Emperor, in his 
heart he knew he was a prisoner" 154* 

"In spite of the storm, the whole army went down on their 

knees" 190^ 

" 'Return to your homes. Lay down your arms' " . .216 

*'At once all order was gone. Each man tried only to save 

his own life" 234*^ 

" 'There is our mark. Follow me !' he cried" .... 242 ^ 

"T^he army was pursued all the way by howling Aztecs" . 286 

"Cortes watched them helplessly" 292 ^^ 



(( ( 



Fear not,' Cortes answered. 'A Spaniard knows how to 
respect valor even in an enemy' " . . . . . . . 304 ^ 



ix 



THE PEOPLE OF THE STORY 

The Spaniards 



Hernando Cortes 
Martin Cortes 
Catamna Cortes . 
Sandoval . 
Alvarado . 
Father Olmedo . 



The hero 
\-Hernando's father and mother 



■Cortes' chief captains 

The priest in Cortes' expedi- 
tion 



Cortes* cavaliers 



Leon .... >. • 
Olid .., . .: . . . 
AVILA ...... 

Ordaz 

Tapia 

Lujo 

Montejo 

puertocarrero . 

Montana 

Olea 

AiAMiNos Cortes' pilot 

Aguilar Cortes' interpreter 

QuiNONEs Captain of Cortes' body-guard 

Magarino Keeper of the bridge 

Grado 



Escalante 
Rangre 
Cordova 
Grijalva . 



Governors of Vera Cruz 
Early explorers 



THE PEOPLE OF THE STORY xi 

VELAsauEz Governor of Cuba 

Narvaez ; Velasquez' lieutenant 

DuERO , Velasquez' secretary 

GuEVAKA A priest in Narvaez' expedi- 
tion 
ViiiLAFANA . V!. . 'i A soldier in Narvaez* expedi- 
tion 
Charles V . . . . ., King of Spain 

Alderete . .... . . Treasurer to Charles V 

FoNESCA Bishop of Burgos and Presi- 
dent of the Council of the 
Indies 
Ayllon . . . . . ., Member of the Commission of 

Friars in St. Domingo 
Orteguili^ . .: .1 .. . Montezuma's Spanish page 

THE INDIANS 

Montezuma King of Mexico and Emperor 

of Anahuac 

Cuitlahua , ^Emperors of Anahuac after 

GuATEMOziN . . . . .J Montezuma 

Nezahualcoyotl 

Nezahualpilli . . . 

Cacama 

ixtlilzochitl, 

Coanaco ..... 

CUICUITZCA .... 

Maxtla King of the Tepanecs 

MaXixca ^Rulers of the Republic of 

XlCOTENCATL THE ELDER . J TlasCala 

Xicotencatl the younger . 1 

r, VTlascalan chiefs 

Chichemecatl . . ,. . J ■' 

Teuhtlile i An Aztec noble 



Kings of Tezcuco 



xu 



THE PEOPLE OF THE STORY 



quauhpopoca 

Marina 

Melchokejo . 

huitzilopotchli 

Quetzalcoatl 

Tezcatlipoca 



An Aztec vassal 

VInterpreters for Cortes 

The Mexican war-god 

The Mexican god of the air 

The Mexican god of creation 



TOLTECS 



INDIAN TRIBES 

The early inhabitants of Ana- 
huac 



The most powerful tribes in 
Anahuac in Cortes' time 



Tribes near Tlascala 



Aztecs 

Tezcucans . * . 
Tlascaians .... 
Cholulans .... 
Tepeacans .... 

Otomies 

Tepanecs 'A tribe near Tezcuco 

Chalcans -.A tribe near LaJce Chalco 

totonacs 

Chinantlas 



Tribes near Vera Cruz 



PLACES OF THE STORY 



Mexico 



Mexico 

Tenochtitlan 
Anahuac . 



Tezcttco . 
Tezctjco . 

Tlascaia . 

Tlascaxa . 

Cholula . 

Cempoalia 

azcapozalco 

Vera Cruz, Villa Rica de 



Montezuma's kingdom lying 
in the valley of Mexico 

Two names for Montezuma's 
capital city 

An empire ruled by Monte- 
zuma, King of Mexico, who 
had forced all the other 
tribes of the country — ex- 
cepting the Tlascalans — to 
pay his tribute and ac- 
knowledge his authority. 
Anahuac covered about the 
ground of the present coun- 
try of Mexico 

A kingdom 

Its capital city 

A republic 

Its capital city 

The sacred city of the Aztecs 

Capital city of Totonacs 

Capital city of Tepanecs 

The city founded by the Span- 
iards where they first 
landed. This city was soon 
deserted and the same name 
was given to the new city 
founded by Cortes near 
Chiahuitzla 



xm 



XIV 



PLACES OF THE STORY 



Tabasco 

iztapalapan 

Chinantla 

Xalapa 

Chalco 

cojohuacan 

huaxtepec 

Tlacopan . 

xochimilco 

Ajotzinco 

Chiahuitzla 

Ceutla 

Otumba 

ti4acopan 

Iztapalapan 

Tepejacac 



Cities of Anahuac 



A plain near Tabasco 

A plain near Tlascala 

The three causeways leading 

from the City of Mexico to 

the mainland 



THE PRINCIPAL BUILDINGS IN JHE 
STORY 

The great temple of Cholula 

The great temple of Tenochtitlan 

Montezuma's palace in Tenochtitlan 

The old royal palace of Axayactl in Tenochtitlan 

The royal summer palace at Chapoltepec 

The fort of Xoloc, built at the point where the causeway run- 
ning from Cojohuacan cut the main causeway running from 
Iztapalapan to Tenochtitlan 

Tlatelolco, the market-place of Tenochtitlan 



CHAPTER I 

HERNANDO CORTES BEFORE HIS CHANCE CAME 

1487-1518 

SEVEN years before Columbus discovered Amer- 
ica, there was born to Martin and Catelina Cortes, 
in the town of MedeUin, in the south of Spain, a 
httle son named Hernando, who was to grow up into a 
remarkable man. He was born on the same day as 
Luther, and some one has remarked that Hernando 
Cortes did as much to maintain the Catholic faith as 
Martin Luther did to destroy it. 

Spain in this end of the fifteenth century was under 
the rule of Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Cas- 
tile, whose marriage in 1479 had united these two king- 
doms into one Spain, from which they determined to 
di'ive out the Moors who had held Grenada for many 
years. They were busy with this work when Hernando 
Cortes was born and were still at it when Columbus 
applied to Spain for help in discovering the New World. 

Martin Cortes was a Captain of Infantry. He and 
his wife, Catelina, though not very rich were very much 
respected. The little Hernando was not strong at first 
but his mind was quick and ready for adventure. We 
may imagine the httle lad listening with eager eyes and 
fast-beating heart to the stories about the brave Colum- 
bus whom the King and Queen of Spain, Ferdinand 
and Isabella, had sent across the unknown seas to dis- 
cover a new world. 



2 THE BOYS' PRESCOTT 

When Hernando was fourteen he was sent to Sala- 
manca to study. His father, seeing his cleverness, 
thought to make a lawyer of him. But the boy, who 
was to grow into a man of wonderful intelUgence and 
power in action, did not show any great love for books. 
He idled through two years of college and then went 
home again, much to the disappointment of his parents. 
All that he carried back of learning was a little Latin 
and the capability of writing good prose and poor verse. 

The next year he spent at home, enjoying life more 
than did those with whom he lived, for he was most 
ingenious in inventing mischief. The very spirit of 
adventure which carried him to such heights as a man 
was, in a self-willed, undisciplined boy, a constant source 
of trouble to the quiet, well-ordered household of the 
Cortes family. 

At seventeen Hernando decided he would follow his 
father's profession and enter the army. His parents, 
tired of his idle life, consented to his enlisting under the 
Great Captain, Gonsalvo de Cordova, who had made 
himself famous in the war against the Moors. 

Medellin, however, was near the southern seaports of 
Spain which had sent off many explorers, and their in- 
fluence was very alluring. After Hernando had ob- 
tained permission to be a soldier, he decided that he 
would rather try his fortune in the New World which 
seemed to promise certain glory to any man brave 
enough to adventure its perils. He made ready to sail 
in a splendid armament fitting out at that time, but at 
the last moment, in climbing a high wall one night dur- 
ing one of his foolish escapades, he loosened a stone 
which fell on him and bruised him so severely that he 
was in bed at the time the fleet sailed. 



CORTES BEFORE HIS CHANCE CAME 3 

Two years more he stayed at home doing no better 
than before mitil, when he was nineteen, another squad- 
ron of vessels sailed from Spain to the West Indies. 
This time Hernando Cortes sailed with it. It was 1504 
and Isabella, the good queen, died this same year. 

The commander of the vessel on which Cortes sailed 
was Alonso Quintero, a man without much notion of 
loyalty or honor. When the little fleet touched at the 
Canary Islands to take in supplies, Quintero got what 
he wanted as quickly as possible and then sailed out of 
harbor thinking to steal a march on the other vessels and 
reach Hispaniola first, that he might sell his goods 
without the competition of his companions. He did 
not accomplish much, however, for he ran into a storm 
that dismasted his ships and sent him back to the 
Canaries to refit. The squadron were generous enough 
to wait until Quintero was sea-worthy and they made 
the voyage together. 

Quintero was scarcely worthy of their kindness. As 
they came finally near their journey's end, Quintero one 
dark night again ran away from the rest of the fleet, 
still meaning to get to Hispaniola ahead of the others. 
Again he met storms and head winds which drove him 
completely from his course and he lost his reckoning. 
For many days the boat was knocked about on an un- 
known sea imtil all the crew grew rather frightened and 
very indignant at their captain. At last one morning 
a white dove lighted on their topmast and brought them 
fresh courage for they knew land was not far away. 
Some of the men w^ho later wrote Cortes' life thought 
the dove was sent as a special miracle to save Cortes 
from destruction. However that may be, the bird flew 
and the ship followed until it reached the island of His- 



4 THE BOYS' PRESCOTT 

paniola, where Quintero received what he deserved in 
finding that all the rest of the squadron had arrived 
long before him and made their market while he was 
tossing on the seas. 

The Governor of Hispaniola was named Ovando. 
Cortes had known him in Spain and went directly to him 
on landing. Ovando was away, but his secretary wel- 
comed Cortes and told him he was sure to receive a 
liberal grant of land as an estate to settle on. 

This promise did not greatly please Cortes. 

"I came to get gold," he said in disgust, "not to till 
the soil like a peasant," 

However, when the Governor returned and convinced 
Cortes that more gold was to be got by farming than by 
foraging, Cortes accepted the estate which Ovando 
bestowed on him, with a number of Indians as slaves, 
and settled down to country life. 

This distribution of Indians among the Spaniards 
as slaves had been forbidden by Queen Isabella but it 
was still carried on. A commission of Friars sent to 
St. Domingo to inquire into the treatment of Indians 
justified the use of natives as slaves on the ground that 
the Indians would not work unless forced to, and that 
unless they came into contact with the whites by work, 
they could not be converted to Christianity. The com- 
mission tried to protect the slaves by just laws, but they 
were really at the mercy of their masters. 

Cortes settled down on his estate and was appointed 
notary of the town of Aqua. Although he was a 
magistrate, he did not outgrow all at once his wild ways 
which took him into trouble more than once. 

He had a taste of Indian warfare also in expeditions 
under Diego Velasquez, Ovando's lieutenant, who was 



CORTES BEFORE HIS CHANCE CAME 5 

sent to suppress several Indian insurrections. It gave 
Cortes a chance to study Indian tactics and to under- 
stand the toils and hardships of Indian warfare. 

At length in 1511 Velasquez was sent from Hispani- 
ola to take possession of Cuba. Velasquez was of noble 
birth and had had a good deal of experience in war. 
He is described as being "covetous of glory and some- 
what more covetous of wealth." Those traits are apt to 
make a man suspicious and jealous, and Cortes in later 
years found Velasquez to be both. For the time, how- 
ever, Cortes stood high in Velasquez's favor. 

The natives of Cuba were as mild as the Indians of 
Hispaniola and were easily conquered. Only one chief 
resisted. When he was finally defeated and taken, 
Velasquez ordered him to be burned ahve. The 
Spaniards urged him to become a Christian that he 
might at his death go to heaven. But the chief an- 
swered that he had no wish to go to a white man's heaven 
and meet again beings capable of such cruelty. 

Cortes through all this campaign showed that how- 
ever idle his life might so far have been he had the 
quahties of a pioneer soldier of fortune — always active, 
brave and gay, and a great favorite with his companions. 
His deeper qualities were still hidden but thej?- were 
there under his gay outside ready to show when hard 
deeds called for them. 

After Cuba was conquered, St. Jago in the southeast 
corner became its capital. Velasquez was made Gov- 
ernor of the island and Cortes was appointed one of his 
secretaries. By generous grants of land, Velasquez en- 
couraged men to settle on the island, to cultivate the soil 
and to raise sugar-cane. He also worked the gold 
mines. 



6 THE BOYS' PRESCOTT 

Cortes settled down on the large estate in Cuba which 
Velasquez gave him. He soon fell in love with a 
Spanish girl in the neighborhood, Catalina Xiuarez, and 
was much annoyed when Velasquez disapproved of the 
affair. This brought about a quarrel between him and 
Velasquez. Cortes, joining the party of those who 
were fretting against Velasquez's rule, opened his house 
as their meeting place. 

After a good deal of grumbling, these discontented 
ones determined to take their grievances to those higher 
authorities in Hispaniola who had given Velasquez his 
commission as Governor. As the voyage from Cuba 
to Hispaniola must be made in an open boat across a 
wide arm of the sea, they chose the boldest of their 
number for the errand. Cortes, who did not know the 
meaning of fear, agreed to go. 

But in the meantime the matter had come to the ears 
of the Governor. He seized Cortes at once and put 
him in irons. The colonial governors had almost un- 
limited authority in those days as they were so far from 
home that they could either cover up their deeds or offer 
so big a bribe to their king that he was content to pass 
over their high-handed doings. 

Velasquez would have hanged Cortes if he had not 
been afraid of Cortes' friends. Cortes did not stay 
long in prison. By his own ingenuity he unlocked the 
fetters on his legs, and with the irons themselves broke 
open the window of his jail. As he was up only one 
story he easily dropped to the street without being seen 
and ran to the nearest church to claim privilege of 
sanctuary. 

The Governor, though angry that his prisoner had 
escaped, respected the holiness of the church and did 



CORTES BEFORE HIS CHANCE CAME 7 

not arrest Cortes while he was in it. But he had a 
guard ready close by, and one day Cortes grew im- 
patient at doing nothing and stepped out a few paces 
from his place of protection. He was standing care- 
lessly in front of the church when one of the guard 
sprang on him from behind and held his arms while the 
others bound him. 

This time Velasquez determined to send Cortes at 
once to Hispaniola to be tried. His feet again fettered, 
he was carried on board a vessel which was lying in har- 
bor ready to sail the next morning to Hispaniola. But 
Cortes did not mean to go. Little by little, with tre- 
mendous patience, not minding the pain it caused, he 
worked his feet free of the irons. He reached deck 
without being observed — perhaps his guards were not 
very anxious to see — and dropped over the vessel's side 
into a yawl-boat that floated underneath. Then very 
quietly he rowed away to shore. As he drew near the 
bank the waves ran so high that, afraid to trust his boat 
among them, he leaped into the water and swam the 
rest of the distance. It was a hard fight but Cortes was 
strong and a good swimmer and reached land in safety. 
Tired as he was after his effort, he did not stop to rest 
but went at once to the same church which had sheltered 
him before. 

Some of the men who have written Cortes' life say 
that one night, tired of inactivity, Cortes went directly 
to the camp where Velasquez was at that time stationed 
and, completely armed, forced himself into Velasquez' 
presence. The Governor, though rather startled at 
seeing his enemy in arms before him, listened to what 
Cortes had to say. They had a hot dispute over his 
treatment of Cortes but the quarrel, according to the 



8 THE BOYS' PRESCOTT 

story-teller, ended in such perfect friendship that when 
one of the guard came to tell Velasquez that his prisoner 
had again escaped from the church, he found Governor 
and prisoner asleep in one bed. More creditable his- 
tory, however, has it that by the help of Catalina 
Xiuarez' family, Cortes married the girl and finally be- 
came reconciled to the Governor. 

Though Cortes was not put back into his position of 
secretary, he received a large estate in the neighborhood 
of St. Jago. For the next few years he remained with 
his wife on his land and gave all his energy to farming, 
stocking his plantation with different kinds of cattle, 
some of them brought by him into Cuba for the first 
time. He worked his gold mines, too, with such success 
that he grew rich. More saving than he had been in the 
old days, he did not spend all he made but gathered 
together little by little quite a fortune. Perhaps he was 
already planning what he would do with it ; but whether 
he was or not, it was ready, and when his great chance 
came he did not have to refuse it because he was too 
poor to take advantage of it. 

For there was coming now to Cortes the chance that 
would make him a great man. 



CHAPTER II 

THE CHANCE THAT CAME TO CORTES 
1518 

IN the intervals of quarreling with Cortes after the 
subjugation of Cuba, Velasquez turned his thought 
to expeditions on the mainland. He was adven- 
turous, as were all the Spaniards of that day, and what 
he heard of conquest and discovery and gold fu'ed his 
spirit. Ponce de Leon had explored Florida in 1512; 
Balboa had discovered the Pacific in 1513; others had 
come back rich in material wealth as in experience. 
Velasquez longed to go and do the same. 

He was again stirred to action by Cordova, an 
hidalgo of Cuba, who sailed in February, 1517, to the 
neighboring Bahama Islands to get slaves. He did not 
reach the islands, however, for a gale struck him and 
drove him far out of his course, so that after three weeks' 
sailing he landed on the northeast end of the peninsula 
of Yucatan near Cape Catoche. 

He was much astonished at what he saw there. In- 
stead of savages living in the open, he found semi- 
civilized men, buildings of stone and lime, highly culti- 
vated ground, finely woven cotton garments and delicate 
gold ornaments. 

Cordova knew that he had reached a different race 
of Indians from those on the islands. When he asked 
the name of the place, the natives answered "Tectelanf' 
which meant, "We do not understand." Cordova, how- 

9 



10 THE BOYS' PRESCOTT 

ever, took it as the name of the place and called it 
Yucatan. 

He did not find the natives friendly. Wherever he 
landed he met war. In one skirmish he himself received 
a dozen wounds. Before he reached Cuba again half 
of his company had died either of wounds or exposure. 

Cordova lived to carry back to Cuba the news of his 
discovery and to exhibit to the Governor the spoils he 
had obtained, but he died soon after his return, worn 
out by the hardships he had gone through. He had 
lived long enough, however, to stir Velasquez to ac- 
tion. 

Velasquez, seeing that Cordova had made a valuable 
discovery, was quick to get ready a squadron on his 
own account to carry it further. He fitted out four ves- 
sels and placed them under the command of his nephew, 
Juan de Grijalva, whom he knew he could trust. With 
Grijalva went Pedro de Alvarado, who later almost 
cost Cortes his conquest of Mexico. 

The fleet sailed May 1st, 1518, following the course 
marked out by Cordova. Grijalva, like Cordova, was 
amazed at the signs of civilization shown everywhere, 
especially in the architecture. He was astonished, too, 
at finding in these heathen lands huge stone crosses, evi- 
dently used as objects of worship. 

Grijalva met the unfriendly reception that Cordova 
had met, but he was prepared for it and so suffered less. 
One friendly chief met him in conference on the Tabasco 
River and gave him a number of gold plates fashioned 
into a sort of armor. A little later as Grijalva went on 
along the Mexican coast he met a body of natives under 
a cacique anxious to confer with him. To impress the 
cacique, Grijalva landed his whole party for the con- 



CHANCE THAT CAME TO CORTES 11 

ference. The river where the conference was held was 
called the River of Banners. 

The chief was a vassal of ^lontezuma who was Em- 
peror of all Anahuac, and Anahuac was the country we 
now know as Mexico. The Chief had heard of the 
approach of the Spaniards and was anxious to find out 
about them all he could to tell his master. The white 
men and Indians could talk only by signs, but the con- 
ference lasted some hours and was most friendly. The 
Indians received with joy the beads and trinkets with 
which the Spaniards presented them and gave in ex- 
change jewels and gold cups and ornaments of fine 
workmanship. Then the two companies parted. 

Grijalva knew that Velasquez had sent him out to 
explore and to barter; he had received no commission 
to plant a colony and steadily refused all the begging 
of his followers to found a town on the spot. He would 
have liked to leave a settlement behind him in spite of 
the dangerous neighbors that surrounded him, but he 
had done the errand Velasquez had trusted him with 
and he thought it wiser to do no more. 

He sent Alvarado back to Cuba in one of the caravels 
while he explored a little farther along the coast, going 
as far as the province of Pameco and touching at the 
"Isle of Sacrifices," where he found traces of the cruel 
human sacrifices which were such a terror afterward to 
the Spaniards. Grijalva was the first navigator who 
trod the soil of Anahuac and opened intercourse with 
the Aztecs. 

While Grijalva was thus coasting the Mexican shores, 
Alvarado with his booty had reached Cuba. The Gov- 
ernor's heart swelled with joy when he heard Alvarado's 
story and saw all he had brought back. He grew im- 



12 THE BOYS' PRESCOTT 

patient with Grijalva for delaying his return and at the 
same time blamed him for not planting a colony. 
Finally when he could stand it no longer he sent out 
Olid in search of him, and too impatient to await even 
Olid's return, determined to start out another and 
larger squadron armed to conquer the country. He 
began to look around for some one strong enough to 
command it and rich enough to share in the expense. 

Velasquez applied at once for permission to the Com- 
mission of Friars at St. Domingo which had been sent 
out to look after the interests of the Indians. Then he 
sent over to Charles V, King of Spain, an account of 
Grijalvo's expedition, and the royal share of treasure, 
one-fifth of all the gold brought by Alvarado. He told 
the King how much he had done for the crown and asked 
that power be given him to carry on the conquest and 
colonization of Anahuac. 

If the Governor had waited to receive permission 
from Charles before he went ahead making ready for 
his new expedition, he would have had to wait some time, 
for Charles, though ready for gold, took little interest in 
Spanish affairs. In his veins was the blood of Charles 
the Bold of Burgundy, of Maximilian, Emperor of 
Germany, and of Ferdinand and Isabella. Though his 
mother was a Spanish princess, daughter of Ferdinand 
and Isabella, Charles had been brought up in his father's 
country of Flanders. His mother was insane and not 
fit to rule, so when Ferdinand died in 1516, and the 
crown passed to his daughter, her son Charles was made 
regent of Spain. He heartity disliked that country, and 
after he was elected Emperor of Germany in 1500 
spent little time in Spain. The Spaniards thought of 
him as a foreigner and liked him as little as he liked 



CHANCE THAT CAJME TO COKTES 13 

them. As there was thus no real king in control, 
Spanish business moved very slowly. 

After Velasquez had thus satisfied his conscience by 
twice asking permission to send an expedition into Ana- 
huac, he at once set to work. Several hidalgos in Cuba 
were ready to take command, for the news of the riches 
of Anahuac had run through the island and stirred 
every one to adventure. But none of these men suited 
Velasquez. Finally, under the advice of his treasurer, 
Lares, and of his secretary, Duero, in both of whom he 
had great confidence, he chose Cortes commander of the 
fleet. Report says that Cortes was a friend of these 
two men and that he promised them a large share of his 
booty if he were chosen as leader. 

But whether he was persuaded in his choice or used 
his own judgment, Velasquez was convinced he had 
chosen well. His old feud with Cortes had long since 
died out; he knew that Cortes' courage and vigor and 
capability fitted him for a leader, that his fortune would 
help pay expenses and that his popularity in Cuba would 
influence many to follow his standard. Velasquez 
thought, moreover, that his choice would bind Cortes 
more closely to him in loyalty and gratitude. 

To Cortes the commission was a dazzling prospect. 
The romance of the age of discoveiy that he lived in ran 
strong in his veins and made him eager to follow the 
path marked out by the "Great Admiral" who had first 
discovered America. Cortes understood, too, the im- 
portance of the further discoveries of Cordova and 
Grijalva and what opportunities would be open to the 
next man to follow in their footsteps. There would be 
glory as well as gold waiting for the conqueror of Ana- 
huac. 



14 THE BOYS' PKESCOTT 

He accepted the position at once, and immediately 
all that was strong and fine in him seemed to leap into 
possession of his nature to change him from a careless, 
uncalculating youth to a man worthy to command a 
great enterprise. He gave all the money at his com- 
mand to fitting out the fleet, even laying a mortgage on 
his estate for that purpose. Through promises of riches 
to be gained in Anahuac he encouraged many to join the 
expedition, and when they had come to his standard, he 
kept them there, showing already the qualities which 
made him a leader of men. 

Everything was abustle at once in St. Jago harbor. 
Six ships were fitting with stores, ammunition and guns, 
and every one who could by selling or mortgaging get 
together enough money to pay his expenses was joining 
the expedition. In a few days three hundred men had 
enlisted under Cortes. 

Velasquez gave instructions to the little squadron. 
They were first to find Grijalva and join forces with 
him and then the two parties together were to discover 
and set free six Christians whom Cordova reported as 
being held captive by the Indians somewhere in the in- 
terior. As they went, they were to make an accurate 
survey of the coast, taking soundings that could be 
charted for future sailing; they were to study the prod- 
ucts of the country, the customs of the people, and the 
differences between the various tribes. Reports were to 
be sent back to the Governor, with such articles as should 
be received in trade. 

For after all, barter with the Indians was the real 
object of the expedition, although along with that in the 
Spaniards' minds went always the sincere desire to con- 
vert the Indians to Christianity. The Governor im- 



CHANCE THAT CAME TO CORTES 15 

pressed upon Cortes that the natives should be treated 
as fellow-beings and not as savages and enemies. But 
Velasquez went on to say that after Cortes had won the 
Indians by his kindness, he should go on so to teach 
them of the grandeur and goodness of the King of 
Spain that they would flock "to give in their allegiance 
to him, and to manifest it by regaling him with such com- 
fortable presents of gold, pearls and precious stones as 
by showing their own good-will, would secure his favor 
and protection." 

Thus Cortes was given his commission. He had no 
authorit}^ for colonizing, for, however much Velasquez 
fretted at Grijalva for not leaving a colony, he had no 
power to give that authority to Cortes. ISTo word had 
come from Spain to the Governor, and the Commission 
of Friars at St. Domingo could grant only the right of 
exploration and trading. This Commission confirmed 
Velasquez in his appointment of Cortes as Captain- 
General of the new expedition. 

Cortes was thirty-three years old. His face was pale, 
with large, dark eyes, giving him a serious look which 
did not always tell the truth as to his happy, cheerful 
spirit. His dress though plain was rich, and set off 
his tall and slender figure with the deep chest and broad 
shoulders that gave him strength and agility in horse- 
manship and fencing as well as the ability to undergo 
any hardship and toil. He was always temperate in his 
eating and drinking. His manner was that of a gay 
comi-ade, but underneath the frankness was an iron reso- 
lution which nothing could turn and which controlled the 
men who loved him. 

His position of Captain-General gave to Cortes, of 
course, a new importance. He began to live in the style 



16 THE BOYS' PRESCOTT 

of a man of wealth and station and to show more author- 
ity in his speech and manner. This at once made the 
suspicious Governor uncomfortable, and he began to 
wonder if, in giving Cortes so much power, he had in 
fact roused in him loyalty and gratitude or whether he 
had encouraged him to take for himself more than Ve- 
lasquez had wished to give him. 

These fears were made greater by his jester — who 
had the privilege of making jokes when he chose. As 
Velasquez and Cortes were walking together one day 
down to the harbor, the fool called out, "Have a care, 
Master Velasquez, or we shall have to go ahunting, 
some day or other, after this same Captain of ours." 

"Do you hear what the rogue says?" exclaimed the 
Governor. 

"Do not heed him," Cortes answered; "he is a saucy 
knave and deserves a good whipping." 

But the jester's joke stayed in the Governor's mind. 
There were around him a good many men who would 
have liked to stand in Cortes' shoes though they could 
not have fitted them. These jealous ones, some of them 
Velasquez' relatives, kept his fears and suspicions alive, 
until presently the Governor and Cortes were back in 
the old days when they feared and distrusted each other. 
Velasquez went so far as to resolve to take the command 
from Cortes and give it to some one else. 

Cortes saw in the Governor's change of manner that 
he was out of favor, but he did not know how badly, 
until his friends, Lares the treasurer and Duero the 
secretary who had secured him the commission, came to 
tell him that he was to be removed from his position as 
Captain-General. They advised him to get off before 
his commission was taken from him. 

Cortes was ready enough to take this advice. He did 



CHANCE THAT CAME TO CORTES 17 

not need any time to make a decision, and once made, he 
was resolute in carrying it out. His men were not 
together; the vessels were not fully equipped; but he 
determined to sail that very night. 

He went to work at once. Secretly he informed his 
officers of the change of plan. Then he went to the 
butcher's and took everything there was in stock, pay- 
ing for it with a heavy gold chain he wore. The butcher 
complained there would be nothing left for the citizens 
on the morrow, but Cortes cared little for that. 

Quietly after midnight on November 18, 1518, Cortes 
with his men boarded the vessels and dropped down the 
bay. No one knew anything about it till morning, and 
then the whole town was by the ears to see that the 
squadron was no longer at the quay. Some one lost no 
time in telling the Governor, and he was out of bed and 
down at the harbor in still less time. 

Cortes, when he saw him coming, got into an armed 
boat and was rowed within speaking distance. 

"Is it thus you part from me?" cried Velasquez bit- 
terly. "A courteous way of taking leave surely." 

"Pardon me," answered Cortes, "time presses, and 
there are some things that should be done before they 
are even thought of. Has Your Excellency any com- 
mands?" 

As Velasquez said no more, Cortes waved his hand 
and returned to his vessel. Velasquez, mortified and 
angry, went home, thinking he had made two mistakes ; 
fii'st, in putting so much power into Cortes' hands and, 
second, in making an enemy of him by trying to take 
away the power once it was given. 

As for Cortes, he was off on his great adventure. His 
chance had come and he had seized it. And he did not 
let go till it was accomplished. 



CHAPTER III 

CORTES COMES TO COZUMEL 
1519 

WHEIN" Grijalva, after six months of explora- 
tion, returned to Cuba full of his adven- 
tures, it was only to find that some one had 
taken his place and that his labor was unappreciated. 
Cortes' fleet had been fitted out to reap the results for 
which he had toiled, and instead of the glory and grati- 
tude he had expected from his uncle, the Governor had 
only coldness and reproof for him because he had not 
disobeyed his orders and founded a colony. In those 
early days few of the men who did the great deeds — 
Columbus, Balboa, Grijalva — were rewarded with any- 
thing but ingratitude. 

But Cortes was off, although as yet he was not far 
on his way. He had put in at the port of Macaca, fif- 
teen leagues distant from St. Jago, to lay in such stores 
as he could get from the royal farms. He took them 
as "a loan from the king," to be repaid later, but he did 
not stop to ask the permission of Charles V. From 
Macaca he went on to Trinidad on the southern shore of 
Cuba, and set up his standard, promising great things 
to those who would join him. His principal standard 
was of black velvet embroidered with gold and on it a 
red cross amid flames of blue and white over this in- 
scription, "Friends, let us follow the cross, and under 
this sign, if we have faith, we shall conquer." 

18 



CORTES COMES TO COZUMEL 19 

Among those who trooped to enhst were one hundred 
who had returned with Grijalvo, including an Indian 
from Yucatan named Melchorejo, whom Cortes took as 
interpreter, and such great men as Alvarado, Sandoval, 
Ohd, Avila, Puertocarrero and Valesquez de Leon, a 
relative of the Governor. All these men not only lent 
weight and dignity to the expedition but were valuable 
because of their experience with Grijalva in Indian war- 
fare and took a leading part in the conquest. When 
they came into camp at Trinidad, the whole camp turned 
out to welcome them with music and artillery salutes. 

Cortes was spending his time in getting together sup- 
plies. He took them wherever he could find them, as 
he had taken meat from the St. Jago butcher. He 
heard that a trading vessel was off the coast and ordered 
out one of his caravels to bring her into port. When 
he had her there, he bought both the ship and the cargo 
of grain and induced the ship's commander to join the 
expedition. When he had news of another ship, he sent 
Ordaz with a caravel after that one, telling him to take 
the captured ship to St. Antonio at the western point of 
the island, where Cortes would meet him. Cortes sent 
Ordaz on this errand because he had come to him out of 
the Velasquez household, and while he was chasing ves- 
sels he could not be reporting to Velasquez the doings 
of Cortes. 

Velasquez, however, did not mean that Cortes should 
escape him if he could help it. He sent word to the 
Governor of Trinidad to seize Cortes and hold him, as 
another man had been put in his place to command the 
fleet. The Governor of Trinidad shared his news with 
Cortes' principal officers. They all advised him to 
leave Cortes alone as he had already gained such a hold 



20 THE BOYS' PRESCOTT 

over his followers that if he were touched they would 
probably burn the town. The Governor listened to 
their advice. 

Cortes, however, thought it wise to leave Trinidad. 
As he had not yet as many men as he wanted, he set 
sail with part of his following for Havana, sending 
Aivarado with a body of men to march across country 
and meet him there. At Havana he brought ashore all 
the big guns as well as the small arms and crossbows 
and had them all thoroughly overhauled. As there 
were plenty of cotton plantations near Havana, he had 
an armor of quilted jackets made for his soldiers to 
protect them from Indian arrows. 

He set up his standard at Havana with his usual 
generous promises to those who enlisted under him. 
Even so early in the expedition he was Commander-in- 
Chief in deed as well as in name. His air of easy 
familiarity with his soldiers, joined to a firmness that 
allowed no disobedience, made him their idol from the 
start and most of them would willingly have died for 
him. He divided his men into eleven companies, each 
with an experienced officer as captain. Several of these 
men were friends and relatives of Velasquez but Cortes 
treated them all alike. 

Before Cortes was quite ready to leave Havana, the 
commander there, Don Pedro Barba, also received 
orders from Velasquez to arrest Cortes and not to allow 
the fleet to sail. Velasquez also wrote a letter to Cortes, 
asking him to wait until Velasquez could have a personal 
talk with him. But Cortes had no wish to have any 
personal talk just then with the Governor of Cuba. 
One of the men who has written the life of Cortes ex- 
claims, "Never did I see so little knowledge of affairs 



CORTES COMES TO COZUMEL 21 

shown as in this letter of Diego Velasquez — that he 
should have miagined that a man who had so recently 
put such an affront on him would defer his departure at 
his bidding!" 

Cortes did not "defer his departure" nor did Barba 
arrest him, for he, too, had grown fond of Cortes in his 
short acquaintance with him. Barba wrote the Gov- 
ernor of Cuba a letter in which he said that he had the 
greatest confidence in Cortes' loyalty, but that in any 
case it would be folly to try to arrest the general at the 
head of a large body of troops who were devoted to 
him. Cortes himself added a postscript to the letter, as- 
suring Velasquez that he was bound to his interests and 
that he might have entire faith in him. He ended by 
saying that the squadron would sail the following 
morning. 

On February 10, 1519, therefore, the fleet set sail 
for St. Antonio, where they were to meet Ordaz' party. 
When the squadron thus was completed Cortes found 
that he had eleven vessels. The flagship was of one 
hundred tons, three other vessels were of seventy tons, 
and the other seven were only caravels or open brigan- 
tines. The fleet was under the direction of Antonio de 
Alaminos, an old pilot who had acted under Columbus, 
Cordova and Grijalva. 

To man his vessels Cortes had a hundred and ten 
sailors, and to do his fighting he had five hundred and 
fifty-three soldiers, sixteen horses, ten heavy guns, four 
lighter guns called falconets, and plenty of ammunition. 
There were, besides, two hundred Indians, men and 
women, taken as servants. With this equipment Cortes 
started to conquer a country of hundreds of thousands 
of inhabitants, famous soldiers who, under the command 



22 THE BOYS' PRESCOTT 

of a semi-civilized, powerful Emperor, were well armed 
and well drilled and fighting in their own country of 
which they knew all the roads and bypaths and which 
yielded them constant food. 

But Cortes was one of those who never would know 
he was beaten. He had determined to conquer Ana- 
huac, and once the power had been put into his hands, no 
commands from the Governor, no grumbling among his 
men, no defeats from his enemies, not even starvation, 
could turn him back with his purpose unaccomplished. 

Cortes stands in history with the stain of cruelty on 
his name. But as we follow him up his long cHmb from 
the seacoast to the City of Mexico, we must not think 
of him as living in our days when war is held in horror 
and cruel deeds are blamed by every one. He lived in 
a time when war was a man's most honorable occupa- 
tion. He lived in a time when the Christian nations 
truly beheved that God had given them the New World 
for a possession and the savages to be converted to 
Christianity. They did not believe that they were 
either stealing or murdering when they went out to 
seize these new lands; they thought rather they were 
going on a crusade for the glory of the Holy Boman 
Church. We must look at their deeds, therefore, from 
their standpoint instead of from our own more enlight- 
ened one. And then as we go step by step with Cortes, 
we shall find that apart from the horrible necessities of 
war, he was not often guilty of deeds cruel without 
cause, as were so many of the earty Spaniards. There 
is no deed that can be laid to him that can in any way be 
compared to the frightful cruelties inflicted on the Low 
Countries by Philip II and Alva in the next century. 

Before his final start from St. Antonio, Cortes made 



CORTES COMES TO COZUMEL 23 

to his soldiers one of the speeches which always fired 
their hearts. He touched on their religion, ambition, 
and their love of gold. 

"I hold out to you a glorious prize," He said, *'but it is 
to be won by incessant toil. Great things are achieved 
only by great exertions, and glory was never the reward 
of sloth. If I have labored hard and staked my all on 
this undertaking, it is for the love of that renown, which 
is the noblest recompense of man. But, if any among 
you covet riches more, be but true to me, as I will be 
true to you and to the occasion, and I will make you 
masters of such wealth as our countrymen have never 
dreamed of! You are few in number, but strong in 
resolution; and, if this does not falter, doubt not but 
that the Almighty, who has never deserted the Spaniard 
in his contest with the infidel, will shield you, though en- 
compassed by a cloud of enemies; for your cause is a 
just cause J, and you are to fight under the banner of the 
Cross. Go forward, then, with alacrity and confidence, 
and carry to a glorious issue the work so auspiciously 
begun." 

The soldiers responded with loud applause, eager to 
set out on so wonderful a quest led by so great a leader. 
Mass was celebrated; the fleet placed under Cortes' 
patron saint, St. Peter, and on February 18, 1519, the 
squadron got under way and headed for the coast of 
Yucatan on its mission. Grijalva had returned to Cuba 
and he was no longer to be sought for, but there were 
still the six Christians said to be held captive in the in- 
terior by the natives. 

The flagship led the way with a beacon-light by night 
at its stern. The vessels were ordered to keep together, 
but the fair weather changed into a tempest which scat- 



24 THE BOYS' PRESCOTT 

tered the ships and drove them south of their course. 
They landed finally, as Grijalva had, on the island of 
Cozumel. Cortes had lingered to convoy a vessel dis- 
abled by the gale and reached Cozumel last of all. He 
had warned all his captains to use great gentleness and 
caution in dealing with the natives that they might keep 
on friendly terms. But he found on landing that al- 
ready Alvarado's rash spirit had started things wrong. 
In the short time before his commander arrived he had 
entered the Indian temples, stolen their treasures and 
been so severe to the natives that they had fled in terror 
into the interior. 

Cortes, very angry at this disobedience to his strict 
orders, reproved Alvarado in the presence of the army. 
Then he ordered to be brought before him two Indian 
captives whom Alvarado had taken. They came trem- 
bling, but Cortes, through Melchorejo — the Indian 
whom Grijalva had brought back and who had picked 
up some Spanish in Cuba — made them understand that 
he had only friendly feelings for them. He ordered 
them released, loaded them with presents, and sent them 
to tell their friends to come without fear back to their 
homes. 

The Indians, convinced of Cortes' good-feeling, soon 
were all back, ready to begin a friendly barter. The 
Spaniards had knives and beads; the Indians had gold 
ornaments. Each was glad to give what he had for 
what the other would give in exchange. 

From these Indians Cortes gathered a few facts about 
the men he had come to seek, and he sent two brigan- 
tines, under Ordaz, to the opposite coast of Yucatan, 
telling them to stay there eight days while some Indians 
in the party carried a letter to the captives telling them 



CORTES COMES TO COZUMEL 25 

that their countrymen were in Cozumel with a Uberal 
ransom for theii- release. 

While this party was away, Cortes made excursions 
to different parts of the island in order to keep his rest- 
less men employed as well as to make that study of the 
resources of the country that he had been told to make. 

He found the land poor and thinly inhabited, but like 
Grijalva, he was astonished at the signs of civilization 
he found here as compared with the islands of Cuba and 
Hispaniola. The houses were large and built of stone. 
The temples had towers of stone rising in terraces, story 
above story. In one temple he found a stone cross, 
which greatly excited the soldiers, as they thought 
Christianity had already reached the island. The cross, 
however, was erected to the Indian god of rain. 

With Cortes were two priests, Diaz and Olmedo. 
Olmedo was gentle and loving at the same time that he 
showed great wisdom. More than once his gentle wis- 
dom held back Cortes when he was determined to con- 
vert the heathen by force if they would not become 
Christians in any other way. 

The two missionary priests began their preaching at 
once to persuade the natives to leave their heathen gods 
and worship the one God. But the Indians loved and 
reverenced their idols, and exclaimed that the gods of 
rain and sunshine would send down lightnings on the 
heads of any one who should interfere with their temples. 

Cortes, not able to argue through an interpreter, 
thought he would give the Indians a chance to see what 
their gods would do for them. He entered the great 
temple and rolled their idol down the stairs. Then 
amid the groans and laments of the natives he set up 
an altar with an image of the Virgin, and mass was said 



26 THE BOYS' PRESCOTT 

by Father Olmedo. The Indians listened in awe al- 
though they could not understand. As no vengeance 
came from heaven on the bold Spaniards, the Indians 
concluded that the strangers' God was more powerful 
than theirs, and they all became Christians. 

While Cortes was converting the natives, the band of 
men he had sent to look for the captives returned say- 
ing they could find no trace of them. Cortes was much 
disappointed at this news, but decided there was noth- 
ing now to keep him in Cozumel. The ship's stores 
had been replenished by the friendly Indians, so Cortes 
weighed anchor and sailed away toward Yucatan. The 
fleet had not gone far before one of the vessels sprang 
a leak, and back they all went to Cozumel. 

Almost on their landing came a canoe full of Indians. 
One of the men in the canoe leaped ashore and saluted 
Cortes in Indian style, by touching the earth with his 
hand and carrying it to his head, then in broken Span- 
ish he asked if they were Christians, and he fell on his 
knees and thanked God, for he himself was one of the 
captives that Cortes had come to seek. His name was 
Aguilar. Almost eight years before this, in a voyage 
to Hispaniola, his vessels had been wrecked on the coast 
of Yucatan. In the ship's boat he and a few compan- 
ions had reached the shore. All except Aguilar fell 
into the hands of the cannibal natives and were killed. 
Aguilar escaped into the interior and was captured by 
a cacique, who spared his life and finally became fond 
of him. By his wise counsels to the cacique in several 
weighty matters, Aguilar became in time an important 
man among the Indians. They were so fond of him 
that they did not want him to leave them, but a ransom 
of glass beads and little bells bought his freedom and 



CORTES COMES TO COZUMEL 27 

he joined the forces of Cortes. He had learned the 
Indian language and, with his knowledge of Spanish, 
he became very valuable as an interpreter. 

There was nothing now to keep Cortes longer in 
Cozumel. The fate of the captives had been discov- 
ered, the vessels had been repaired and re-victualled, 
his men were eager to be forward on their great ad- 
venture. On March 4th, therefore, 1519, Cortes said 
good-by to the friendly Indians of Cozumel and set sail 
for the mainland. 



CHAPTER IV 

THE GREAT BATTLE OF TABASCO 

1519 

THE little fleet kept to the shores of Yucatan 
until it doubled Cape Catoche, and then went 
sweeping down the Bay of Campeachy. The 
men who had sailed these waters before with Grijalva 
were eager to point out to their companions all the 
spots they remembered and to tell their adventures. 

Puertocarrero, as he listened to their excited chatter, 
said to Cortes, "I advise you to look out for only the 
rich lands and the best way to govern them." 

"Fear not," Cortes answered. "If fortune but fa- 
vors me and I have such gallant gentlemen as you for 
companions, I shall understand myself very well." 

Very soon the fleet reached the mouth of the Tabasco 
River, where Grijalva had had his friendly meeting 
with the Indian chief. Although Cortes' great desire 
was to travel through Anahuac to the Capital City of 
Mexico and visit the Aztec Emperor, he remembered, 
too, his orders to explore and report on the country as 
he went. He determined, therefore, to stop long 
enough to go up the Tabasco River and visit the great 
town on its banks. 

He could not take his vessels up the stream because 
of a sand-bar at its mouth, so he left the fleet under 
guard of part of his force, while with the rest he em- 
barked on the ships' boats and set out up the river. 

Cortes went cautiously, for behind the screen of man- 

28 



THE GREAT BATTLE OF TABASCO 29 

grove trees which hned the river he could see moving 
bodies of Indians, vi^ho did not look as if they belonged 
to the friendly natives who had met Grijalva on this 
river. When, at evening, near the city of Tabasco, 
Cortes wanted to land his troops for the night, he was 
met by a crowd of angry Indians brandishing weapons. 
Cortes asked, through his interpreter, permission to 
land, assuring them he came as a friend. But the sul- 
len natives would not grant him leave, and Cortes with- 
drew to a little island to camp, determined not to land 
on the main shore until morning. 

When morning came, things did not look hopeful. 
IsTot only were the angry bands of Indians drawn up 
along the shore in greater numbers than ever, but the 
river swarmed with canoes filled with armed warriors. 
Cortes was not to be daunted. He had made up his 
mind to land, and land he would. He sent a hundred 
men under Avila down stream to get ashore in a grove 
of palms and march from that point to attack the town 
of Tabasco in the rear while he should assault it in front. 

With his detachment of troops, Cortes crossed the 
river directly in face of the enemy. Before he opened 
fire, he proclaimed through his interpreter, Melchorejo, 
that he had come to renew the friendly relations which 
had before been between Indians and Spaniards and 
that all he asked was free passage for his troops. He 
said if blood were spilt, it would be because the In- 
dians blocked his path, and that it would be a useless 
opposition, for, in spite of everything, he meant to camp 
that night within the walls of the town of Tabasco. 
Whether or not the Indians understood this proclama- 
tion, their only answer was a shout of defiance and a 
shower of arrows. 



30 THE BOYS' PRESCOTT 

Cortes, having thus cleared his conscience, brought 
his boats at once alongside the Indian canoes and grap- 
pled them. Both parties were soon turned out of their 
boats and were fighting in the shallow water, where the 
Spaniards gradually pushed the natives back to shore. 
Here they had new foes to meet, for the Indians in 
front of the city flung at them arrows and blazing 
torches as they struggled to find a footing on the slip- 
pery, muddy banks. Cortes lost his sandal in the mud, 
but kept on fighting barefoot. 

Cortes was soon picked out as leader and the Indians 
directed against him the worst fury of their assault. 
He finallj^ got his men on firm ground, where he 
formed them in some degree of order and opened fire 
on the natives. They had never seen fire-arms and, at 
the flash and roar, fell back behind a blockade of logs 
they had drawn up in front of the town. The Span- 
iards carried that defense and drove their enemies into 
the city. 

Avila, in the meantime, had reached his position and 
was attacking Tabasco from the rear. Caught be- 
tween the blasts of this terrifying thunder and light- 
ning of the white men, the Indians gave up. They had 
already taken their families and their possessions out 
of the city, and now they fled themselves, leaving their 
town in the hands of Cortes. All that he found in the 
stone houses of Tabasco, however, were provisions — 
the gold was gone. 

Cortes took possession of Tabasco for Spain. With 
his sword he cut three gashes in a large tree, proclaim- 
ing that he took possession in the name of the King 
and would defend his claim with his sword. The sol- 
diers took the same oath, and the whole affair was re- 




"The Indians flung at them arrows and blazing torches as they 
struggled to find a footing on the slippery, muddy banks" 

— Page 30 



THE GREAT BATTLE OF TABASCO 31 

corded by the notary. In this simple way did Spain 
take possession of her new territories. 

Cortes had made good his boast to the Tabascans, 
for he slept that night in the courtyard of the principal 
temple. He took here the precautions he observed 
through his whole campaign by posting sentinels and 
having his men sleep on their arms. 

All night a threatening silence hung over Tabasco, 
but in the morning there was no sign of the enemy. 
News came to Cortes, however, that the native inter- 
preter, Melchorejo, had left his Spanish dress hanging 
on a tree and had* escaped in the night to join his 
friends. The news troubled Cortes, for Melchorejo 
could carry to his friends more facts about the Span- 
iards than Cortes wanted known. 

There was no help for it, however. As the Indians 
still kept out of sight, Cortes sent a body of men under 
Alvarado one way and a second detachment the other 
way. This last body fell into an Indian ambush and 
had to intrench themselves in a stone house, where the 
Indians closely besieged them. The yells of the sav- 
ages reached the ears of Alvarado and he took his men 
to the relief of their companions. Then both parties 
forced their way back to Tabasco, and Cortes, meeting 
them, they forced their enemy to retire for the time. 

But the Indians were not conquered. Several pris- 
oners had been taken in this fight who told Cortes that 
the whole nation was in arms against the Christians. 
Cortes asked in some surprise why they gave him treat- 
ment so different to that they had offered Grijalva. 
The Indians answered that on account of their kindness 
to Grijalva they had been objects of scorn to the other 
tribes ever since ; that they had been called traitors and 



82 THE BOYS' PRESCOTT 

cowards, and that they could only regain their friends' 
confidence by resisting the white men. 

Cortes probably wished that he had not stopped to 
explore the Tabasco River. But now that he had gone 
so far he must carry the matter to a finish. If he gave 
in now, not only would all the tribes along his route 
rise with greater force to oppose him, but his own men 
would lose their confidence in him as a successful leader, 
and with their confidence would go their courage. 
Without hesitation Cortes called his officers to council 
and announced his intention of giving battle the next 
day. 

At once he set about his preparations. He sent the 
wounded back to the ships and ordered up more men 
from the ships to Tabasco. He ordered also six of the 
heavy guns to be brought up and all of the sixteen 
horses. The horses were stiff and lazy after their life 
on shipboard until a little exercise limbered them up. 

Cortes himself was leader of the cavalry. The in- 
fantry he put under the command of Ordaz and the 
artillery under a soldier named Mesa, who was some- 
thing of an engineer. The cavalry consisted of the 
flower of Cortes' command — Alvarado, Leon, Avila, 
Olid, Puertocarrero and Sandoval among them. 

Having done all he could and arranged his plan of 
battle, Cortes went to bed. But he could not sleep. 
He spent the night going the rounds to see that no 
sentinel slept at his post. 

At the fii'st glint of dawn Cortes roused his army to 
attack. He knew how much courage comes with ac- 
tion and how courage oozes away if men sit still and 
wait for danger to come to them. He ordered Ordaz 
to march with the foot-soldiers and artillery directly 



THE GREAT BATTLE OF TABASCO SB 

across country to the plain of Ceutla, where the Indians 
were encamped, while Cortes himself with the cavalry 
should make a circuit and fall upon the rear. 

It was Lady-day, March 25, 1519, when, after listen- 
ing to Father Ohnedo perform mass, the Spaniards 
marched out of the wooden walls of Tabasco and sepa- 
rated horse and foot each to its appointed duty. The 
march led through fields of maize and cacao, cut with 
irrigation ditches, crossed by only one narrow cause- 
way along which the guns could be dragged. 

After a march of about three miles through the sultry 
day the infantry came in sight of the plains of Ceutla, 
with the enemy, numbering forty thousand men, drawn 
up on dry ground in line as far as the eye could reach. 
As the Spaniards came floundering through the marsh, 
they were met by a charge of arrows and stones and a 
series of frightful yells. They kept on, however, and 
gained ground where they could plant their guns. The 
fire was deadly in the close-packed ranks of Indians, 
but they did not fall back. They tossed dust in the 
air as a shield against the Spaniards and, pressing 
closer, shot new volleys of arrows. When they were 
driven off by a vigorous charge, they rolled back again 
in greater force, until the Spaniards were almost over- 
whelmed merely by weight of numbers, which gave 
them no room to work their guns or deploy their troops. 
Thus the battle swung back and forth, while the Chris- 
tians, panting and fearful in their struggle, kept their 
ears strained for Cortes' battle-cry. Had he failed 
them? 

Suddenly, far in the rear of their foes, they saw the 
sun glint on Spanish helmets and heard the comforting 
cry, "St. Jago and St. Pedro!" 




CHAPTER V 

CORTES ENTERS INTO NEGOTIATIONS WITH MONTEZUMA 

1519 

ORTES with his cavahy had found progress 
over the broken ground even harder than had 
the infantry. With his best efforts he was not 
able to reach his position until the infantry had been 
engaged for an hour. When the Spaniards heard 
Cortes' battle-cry they thought they could see St. Jago 
himself, the patron saint of Spain, leading the charge 
on a gray war-horse. 

The sight of the cavalry gave fresh courage to 
Ordaz' men, while it threw the Indians into complete 
confusion. They had never before seen a horse, and 
thought that horse and rider were one — a huge creature 
whom no one could withstand. Seeing them waver, 
Ordaz ordered a nev/ charge in front, and thus shut in 
between two foes, the Indians threw down their arms 
and fled. The battle was over. 

Cortes was content with that. He had dispersed his 
foes and lost only two men. Instead of following up 
the enemy, he assembled his men under the shade of 
a little palm grove, where he made camp and offered 
thanks to God for their preservation and victory. 

Two chiefs taken in battle were brought before 
Cortes. He gave them their freedom and sent them 
back to their tribes with a choice between forgiveness 
if they would come in at once and promise obedience, 

34 



NEGOTIATIONS WITH MONTEZUMA 35 

or a terrible punisliment if they still held out against 
the Spaniards. 

The Indians were ready to submit. Some inferior 
chiefs appeared the next day asking leave to bury their 
dead. Cortes granted it, but said he was waiting for 
a visit from their greater chiefs. They came very soon 
with a large following of vassals bringing many gifts — 
food, cotton and a few gold ornaments, for which 
Cortes gave them beads and trinkets in return. He 
asked where the gold came from. They answered, 
"Mexico." 

Among the gifts the Indians brought were twenty 
women as slaves. One of them was young, beautiful 
and intelligent. She was a Mexican named Marina 
and her story was like Joseph's in the Bible. She had 
been the only daughter of a rich and powerful cacique 
on the southeastern border of the Mexican Empire. 
Her father had died when she was a little girl and her 
mother, marrying again, had a son born to her. She 
determined to take the inheritance that belonged to 
Marina and give it to Marina's half-brother, who had 
no right to it. So she carried out a scheme like that of 
Joseph's older brothers. She sold the girl to traveling 
merchants and said that Marina was dead. She even 
went through a funeral ceremony before she took Ma- 
rina's riches for her son. 

The merchants sold Marina to the cacique of Ta- 
basco, who in turn gave her to Cortes. She at once 
proved her value. A Mexican by birth, she was thor- 
oughly familiar with the Aztec language. By her 
residence in Tabasco she could speak also the Tabascan 
language. Aguilar, the returned captive, on the other 
hand, could speak Tabascan and Spanish. So Cortes 



36 THE BOYS' PRESCOTT 

was able to talk to the Aztecs by speaking Spanish to 
Aguilar, who spoke Tabascan to Marina, who could 
speak Mexican to the Aztecs. This ability to talk to 
the Mexicans was soon to prove very valuable to Cortes. 

He had asked the Tabascan chiefs where they got 
their gold and they had told him Mexico. That was 
the place, therefore, that Cortes must reach. He was 
quite ready to leave Tabasco and push on. 

But before he left to search for gold he hngered to 
convert the Tabascans to the Christian religion. He 
told the caciques that in paying homage to him they 
were swearing allegiance to the King of Spain across 
the water; the greatest chief in the world. He told 
them, too, that to be truly obedient to their new chief 
they must adopt his religion, and that the priest would 
instruct them in the Christian faith. The Tabascans 
agreed and listened through the interpreter as Father 
Olmedo preached them a sermon. We do not know 
how much they understood, but they professed them- 
selves ready to change their worship from their own 
good god, Quetzalcoatl, to the Christians' God, and 
from their cross to the god of rain to the Christians' 
cross. 

The next day was Palm Sunday and Cortes deter- 
mined on a ceremony that should make a lasting im- 
pression on the Tabascans. Each soldier carrying a 
palm branch, the whole army in solemn procession, 
with Father Ohnedo at their head, took its way across 
the flowery plains from the camp to the principal tem- 
ple of the City. Here Cortes took down the idol and 
put in its place an image of the Virgin. Father Ol-* 
medo said mass and the soldiers joined in the chant. 
The Indians who had thronged to the temple listened in 



NEGOTIATIONS WITH MONTEZUMA 37 

awe to this worship of the God of the white man, who 
could use the thunder and hghtning to fight with. 

"These solemnities concluded, Cortes prepared to 
return to his ships, well satisfied with the impression 
made on the new converts, and with the conquests he 
had thus achieved for Castile and Christianity. The 
soldiers, taking leave of their Indian friends, entered 
the boats with the palm-branches in their hands, and 
descending the river reembarked on board their vessels, 
which rode at anchor at its mouth. A favorable breeze 
was blowing, and the little navy, opening its sails to 
receive it, was soon on its way again to the golden 
shores of Mexico." (Prescott's "Conquest of Mex- 
ico.") 

The fleet, still holding its course near shore, on Holy 
Thursday arrived off the island named by Grijalva, San 
Juan de Ulua. As the Indians gathered along the 
shore did not look hostile, Cortes thought it a good 
place to anchor. 

He had scarcely dropped anchor when a canoe 
loaded with natives put off from the mainland on the 
other side. They came directly to the flagship and 
boarded it with the perfect confidence which Grijalva's 
generous treatment had left in the minds of these 
natives. They had presents of flowers and fruit and 
gold ornaments. At first Cortes could speak to them 
only in sign-language, as they could not understand 
Aguilar. But then Marina appeared and proved her 
value. 

Through his two interpreters Cortes was able to talk 
intelligently with the Indians. They said they were 
subjects of the Aztec Emperor, Montezmna, who ruled 
the entire country of Anahuac, and whose power had 



38 THE BOYS' PRESCOTT 

spread so far that almost every tribe in the country was 
now under his rule. They themselves lived eight 
leagues away and were governed by an Aztec noble 
named Teuhtlile. Cortes was much pleased with his 
interview, especially as they told him there was plenty 
of gold in the interior. He said he had come from a 
friendly monarch to see their emperor and that he 
wished to go to the city of Mexico to visit Montezuma. 

The next day was Good Friday, April 21, 1519. 
Cortes landed his troops on the beach of the mainland 
on the spot where the city of Vera Cruz now stands. 

It was a long level beach with its line of sand hills. 
On these dunes Cortes mounted his guns, while he had 
his men cut down trees and bushes to build huts for a 
camp. The friendly Indians helped them set stakes 
firmly in the ground to form uprights, which they 
roofed with boughs or with native mats and carpets. 

In a couple of days the troops had good shelter from 
the burning sun. They were fed by the natives, who 
came daily in greater quantities, bringing not only the 
fruit, vegetables and game for food, but scraps of gold 
ornament which they bartered for Spanish beads, until 
the camp looked like a foreign fair. 

On Easter Sunday the Governor himself, Teuhtlile, 
arrived with a long train of followers to call on Cortes. 
Cortes and his officers received Teuhtlile with much 
ceremony. The Indians listened quietly while Father 
Olmedo said mass and then all joined in a banquet of 
Spanish food and wines. After that was over, the in- 
terpreters, Aguilar and Marina, came in, and the con- 
versation began. 

"I am the subject of a potent monarch beyond the 
seas," said Cortes, "who rules over an immense empire 



NEGOTIATIONS WITH MONTEZUMA 39 

and has kings and princes for his vassals. Acquainted 
with the greatness of the Mexican Emperor, my mas- 
ter has desired me to enter into communication with 
him, and has sent me as his envoy to wait on Monte- 
zmiia wdth a present in token of his good-will and a 
message which I must dehver in person. When may 
I be admitted into your sovereign's presence?" 

Teuhtlile answered coldly, "How is it that you have 
been here only two days and demand to see the Em- 
peror J 

Cortes told him about his own Emperor, Charles V, 
the "potent monarch beyond the seas." Teuhtlile an- 
swered more politely, "I am surprised to learn that 
there is another monarch as powerful as Montezuma, 
but if that is so, I have no doubt that my master will 
be happy to communicate with him. I will send my 
couriers with the royal gift you have brought, and so 
soon as I learn Montezuma's will, I will communicate 
it." 

Teuhtlile then ordered his slaves to present his gifts 
to Cortes. There were ten loads of fine cotton stuffs, 
cloaks of feather-work as rich and delicate as a paint- 
ing, and a wicker basket filled with ornaments of 
wrought gold which Montezuma had sent. Cortes in 
return gave to Teuhtlile for Montezmna an arm-chair 
richly carved and painted, a cap of crimson cloth 
ornamented with a gold medal, and a number of cut 
glass collars and bracelets, which were as jewels to the 
Indians, who did not know how to make glass. 

Then Teuhtlile was struck with a soldier's gilt helmet 
because it was like the helmet worn by Quetzalcoatl, 
"The Fair God" of the Mexicans, and asked if Monte- 
zuma might see it. Cortes sent it to Montezuma with 



40 THE BOYS' PRESCOTT 

the remark that he should Hke it returned filled with 
the gold-dust of the country that he might see how near 
it was like Spanish gold. 

While this negotiation was going on, one of Teuht- 
hle's attendants was busy putting on canvas a sketch of 
the Spaniards' dress and arms in color. The Aztecs 
had no written language ; all their writing was this pic- 
ture-writing. This canvas was to be sent to Monte- 
zuma that he might see how the white men looked and 
determine whether, indeed, Cortes was the Mexican 
Fair God, Quetzalcoatl, who had many years ago left 
Mexico, promising some day to return. Cortes was 
pleased with the man's work, and to give Montezuma 
a still higher idea of the Spaniards' riches and power 
and strength, he ordered the horses to be put through 
their paces on the firm, sandy beach. The Indians 
watched with astonishment the glancing weapons, the 
easy seat of the riders, the bold movements of the fiery 
horses. When, added to this, Cortes ordered the can- 
non fired, and its sound and smoke went rolling off 
through the woods, while the rushing balls splintered 
the trees into bits, the Indians were sure that the white 
men were more than human. 

The painter added the horses and cannon to his pic- 
ture, as well as the ships, whose dark hulls and white 
sails were reflected in the water where they swung at 
anchor in the bay. 

The hieroglyphic letters were then sent up through 
the country two hundred miles to Montezuma in the 
Aztec capital, Tenochtitlan or Mexico. There were 
posting stations about six miles apart all along the 
route. The first postman ran the first six miles, gave 
the message into the hands of a second, who in turn 



NEGOTIATIONS WITH MONTEZUMA 41 

passed it on, until it finally reached the Emperor. 
These postmen were trained to their work from child- 
hood and could run so fast that news was carried from 
one hundred to two hundred miles in twenty-four 
hours. The Emperor knew pretty well what his 
friends and his enemies were about, and as the postmen 
wore one color to show they were carrying good news, 
and another for bad, the towns they passed through 
could also read this running newspaper. 

After all was finished Teuhtlile and his train, with 
great ceremony, left the Spanish quarters. He gave 
orders that his people should provide the troops with 
food until he heard from Montezuma. 

And so Cortes reached the mainland, established a 
camp, and opened negotiations with the Emperor of 
Mexico. He had well begun the task he had set him- 
self. He had left Cuba February 18. On April 23 
he was in touch with Montezuma. 



CHAPTER yi 

THE EAELY HISTORY OF ANAHUAC 

WE will give Cortes time to strengthen his 
position while he waits his answer from 
Montezuma, and we will travel from the 
tierra caliente of the Mexican coast up through Ana- 
huac to the city of Mexico. Getting ahead even of the 
fast postman with the picture-writing, we will find out 
a little about the people and the cities of Anahuac be- 
fore Cortes sees them. 

The famous oval valley of Mexico lay seven thou- 
sand five hundred feet above sea-level, about half-way 
between the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. High natu- 
ral walls of rock around its circumference shut in green 
meadows, lofty trees and five large lakes. On the 
largest of these lakes. Lake Tezcuco, the two most pow- 
erful tribes of Anahuac had built their capitals. The 
Tezcucans had built their city of Tezcuco on the east 
side, while the Aztecs had erected on the opposite shore 
their city sometimes called Tenochtitlan and sometimes 
Mexico. Anahuac means "near the water," and while 
at first it was probably used only for this land imme- 
diately around the lakes, as these tribes spread their 
rule farther south, the territory of Anahuac increased, 
until in Cortes' time it covered most of present Mexico. 

The Tezcucans and the Aztecs or Mexicans were, of 
course, Indian tribes. Their forerunners were the Tol- 
tecs, who came into the valley in the seventh century, 

42 



EARLY HISTORY OF ANAHUAC 43 

bringing with them the civilization which descended 
later to the Tezcucans and Aztecs. For four centuries 
the Toltecs spread their power until they ruled all 
Anahuac. Then, whether by famine or pestilence or 
wars, they disappeared from the country as silently as 
they had entered it. 

Other tribes, speaking the same language, followed 
the Toltecs. Among them were the Aztecs, the Tez- 
cucans and the Tlascalans. For a long time the Aztecs 
wandered about Anahuac, until one day on the lake- 
shore they saw a nopal, or prickly pear, sticking out 
from a crack in a rock, a huge eagle sitting with a snake 
in his talons and his wings spread to the rising sun. 
They took the eagle as a sign sent them to show the 
position of their future city, and built it on that very 
spot, although they had to sink piles in the marshes as 
a foundation. They called the city Tenochtitlan, 
which meant "nopal on a stone." Later they gave it 
a second name, Mexico, after a war-god, Mexitli. 
Owing to some quarrels among themselves, part of the 
Aztecs pushed a little farther oif and built their homes. 
Finally these two towns became one city — a strange 
city of islands, cut by many canals, joined together and 
to the mainland by great causeways which ran out from 
the principal streets. 

The Tezcucans meantime had built their city, Tez- 
cuco, on the east shore of Lake Tezcuco, and held first 
place among all the tribes in the country; even the 
Aztecs owned their superiority. 

For some time the Tezcucan power spread without 
opposition over all northern Anahuac. About 1418 
they clashed with the tribe of Tepanecs, who invaded 
their territory, took Tezcuco, killed the king and car- 



44 THE BOYS' PRESCOTT 

ried into captivity the crown-prince, who was only fif- 
teen and who had the long name of Nezahualcoyotl. 
His jailer, an old servant of the Tezcucan king, was 
still loyal to the prince. With his help, Xezahual- 
coyotl escaped from prison and went to the city of 
Mexico, where an Aztec ruler sheltered him. Finally 
he was allowed to go back to Tezcuco and lived there 
eight years, studying under one of his old masters, who 
taught him all the duties of a king. 

Meanwhile the Tepanec king died in his capital, 
Azcapozalco, and his son, Maxtla, succeeded him. As 
Maxtla was now ruler of all Anahuac, Nezahualcoyotl 
went to swear allegiance to him. Maxtla turned his 
back on the young prince, who, alarmed for his safety, 
left Azcapozalco and fled back to Tezcuco. 

He was not safe even in his own city. Maxtla knew 
that the Tezcucans loved Nezahualcoyotl as much as 
they hated himself. He resolved to put his rival out 
of his way. 

His first effort was to invite Nezahualcoyotl to a 
party, meaning to kill him when he came. The prince's 
tutor found out the plot and kept Nezahualcoyotl away. 
Then Maxtla sent men to the palace to take Nezahual- 
coyotl by force. Again the tutor was ready for them. 

When the soldiers arrived they foimd Nezahual- 
coyotl playing ball in the palace courtyard. He re- 
ceived them graciously and offered them refreshment 
after their journey. While they were eating and 
drinking, Nezahualcoyotl strolled idly into the next 
apartment, passing through an entrance where a burn- 
ing censer stood. He was still under the soldiers' eyes 
and they went on with their meal. Suddenly his at- 
tendants at the censer threw on such a quantity of in- 



EARLY HISTORY OF ANAHUAC 45 

cense that its clouds lay like a curtain between the 
prince and the soldiers. Nezahualcoyotl fled at once 
down a secret passage into a huge, forgotten drain 
which had once brought water into the palace. 

The prince stayed in hiding till night fell and then 
crept out of the drain and escaped to the cottage of a 
vassal of Tezcuco. Maxtla at once set a price on his 
head and had out armed men to scour the country in 
all directions. The story of Nezahualcoyotl's life is 
Hke that of the Stuart princes in hiding in Scotland; 
no matter how high a price was offered for his head, 
he found always some subject faithful to defend it. 

Obliged to leave the cottage, Nezahualcoyotl wan- 
dered down to the wooded mountains that lay between 
his country and Tlascala. Here he was hunted like a 
wild animal. He had no protection against cold and 
storm. He hid by day in thickets and caves, stealing 
out by night to find food and drink. He had hair- 
breadth escapes. Once a woman covered him with the 
maguey fibers she was using for making cloth; once 
some soldiers hid him in a huge drum around which 
they were dancing; once a girl concealed him while she 
sent his pursuers off on a false scent. Nezahualcoyotl 
asked one young peasant who did not know the prince, 
if he would deliver up the prince if he fell into his 
hands. "No," answered the peasant, not dreaming he 
was talking to the prince himself. "Not even for the 
price Maxtla offers?" Nezahualcoyotl asked. The 
young fellow laughed and shook his head. 

Nezahualcoyotl finally grew weary of the hard life. 
He asked all his friends to go back to Maxtla and 
leave him to his fate. But the blackest hour is just 
before dawn. The whole population, Mexicans and 



46 THE BOYS' PRESCOTT 

Tezcucans alike, were tired of Maxtla's tyranny and 
longing for the return of the mild rule of Tezcuco. 
The nobles made a league, plans were laid, the hour 
set for a general uprising, and one fine day Nezahual- 
coyotl found himself a prince again at the head of his 
own army, marching against Maxtla. The Aztecs, 
under their king, Montezuma I, joined their forces to 
the Tezcucans, and together they were able to defeat 
Maxtla in his own capital and kill him. His city of 
Azcapozalco was razed to the ground and became only 
the slave market for Anahuac. An offensive and de- 
fensive league was formed between Tezcuco and Mex- 
ico, and the Tepanec territory was awarded to the 
Aztecs for the help they had given in the war. 

Nezahualcoyotl, back on his throne, proclaimed a 
general pardon and went to work at once to restore his 
impoverished kingdom. He built up cities, encouraged 
agriculture and framed laws. He built himself a mag- 
nificent palace where he held court. This is what one 
of the old historians tells us about it : 

"In the royal palace of Tezcuco was a court-yard, on 
the opposite sides of which were two halls of justice. 
In the principal one, called the 'tribunal of God,' was 
a throne of pure gold, inlaid with turquoises and other 
precious stones. On a stool, in front, was placed a 
human skull, crowned with an immense emerald, of a 
pyramidal form, and surmounted by an aigrette of bril- 
liant plumes and precious stones. The skull was laid 
on a heap of military weapons, shields, quivers, bows, 
and arrows. The walls were hung with tapestry, made 
of the hair of different wild animals, of rich and various 
colors, festooned by gold rings, and embroidered with 
figures of birds and flowers. Above the throne was a 



EARLY HISTORY OF ANAHUAC 47 

canopy of variegated plumage, from the center of 
which shot forth resplendent rays of gold and jewels. 
The other tribunal, called 'the king's,' was also sur- 
mounted by a gorgeous canopy of feathers, on which 
were emblazoned the royal arms. Here the sovereign 
gave public audience, and communicated his despatches. 
But, when he decided important causes, or confirmed 
a capital sentence, he passed to the 'tribunal of God,' 
attended by the fourteen great lords of the realm, 
marshaled according to their rank. Then, putting on 
his mitered crown, incrusted with precious stones, and 
holding a golden arrow, by way of scepter, in his left 
hand, he laid his right hand upon the skull, and pro- 
nounced judgment." (Prescott's "Conquest of Mex- 
ico.") 

Nezahualcoyotl was not yet married. He fell des- 
perately in love with a beautiful princess who was 
betrothed to one of his nobles. Like David in his de- 
sire for Bathsheba, Nezahualcoyotl did a deed un- 
worthy of a king. He sent the noble to war and he 
was killed. Then Nezahualcoyotl married the prin- 
cess. Except for this, Nezahualcoyotl was a wise and 
good king. He died in 1470, leaving one son, Neza- 
hualpilli, to succeed him. This little prince was only 
eight years old when his father died. 

Nezahualpilli reigned well in his early years, but as 
he grew older, he grew more idle and liked better to 
pass his time in his beautiful gardens than to carry on 
war or administer justice. The army grew lax in dis- 
cipline and the distant provinces lost their loyalty. 

As the Tezcucan power diminished, the Aztec power 
increased. The Mexican rulers, fierce and warlike, 
seized the provinces that Tezcuco was not able to hold, 



48 THE BOYS' PRESCOTT 

and ruled them harshly. Finally the title of emperor, 
which had always belonged to Tezcuco, was assumed 
by the Aztec ruler. 

There was only one province — Tlascala — ^which was 
able to hold out against Mexico. It was a fertile val- 
ley, half-way between Mexico and Vera Cruz, shut in 
on all sides but one by the mountains in the vicinity 
of Popocatepetl. On the exposed side, where the val- 
ley opened to the east, the Tlascalans built a stone wall 
nine feet high and twenty feet broad, with a parapet 
on the outer side as a defense to those who manned the 
wall. There was only one gateway, and that was made 
by one end of the wall running behind the opening and 
the other end in front of it, while the entrance went in 
sidewise between the two. Thus any one going in was 
exposed to fire from the wall on both sides. The wall 
was about six miles long, and as it ran back on either 
side to the rocky precipices of the mountains, the little 
republic of Tlascala was entirely shut in. 

In this impregnable fastness the Tlascalans lived 
their own life independent of the rest of the world. 
The climate and rich soil helped them to raise their own 
supplies, and what they could not get for themselves 
they went without. They learned to do without salt 
and cotton and cacao. They resembled the Spartans 
in their simplicity and severity and warlike spirit. 
They were governed by a council consisting of four 
chief nobles. 

This independent little nation the Aztecs had tried, 
by threats and promises, to bring under their rule. 
The Tlascalans replied to both, "Neither we nor our 
ancestors have ever paid tribute to a foreign power nor 
ever will pay it." And they did not. While the Aztec 



EARLY HISTORY OF ANAHUAC 49 

rule spread from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and all 
tribes trembled before it, Tlascala, from her rocky fort- 
ress, boldly and defiantly proclaimed herself a mortal 
enemy to the Aztec Emperor. 

In 1502, while Nezahualpilli was still loitering in his 
Tezcucan gardens and forgetting he was a king, 
]\Iontezmna II, in the city across the lake, was, at the 
age of thirty-two, elected Emperor of Mexico. He 
had been trained in his youth as a soldier, but had 
afterward entered the priesthood. He was sweeping 
down the stairs of the temple of the war-god when he 
was told of the honor that had been done him. Only 
an accomphshed warrior could be king of Mexico and 
no monarch was allowed to be crowned until he had 
won a victory that gave him a large number of captives 
in his train as he entered his capital. Montezuma won 
his victory and took his captives. The crown of 
wrought gold and precious stones and feathers was put 
on his head by Nezahualpilli. Then with all the pomp 
of religious ceremony the captives were sacrificed in the 
great temple while the people feasted. 

Montezuma at once proved himself an able monarch. 
At home, he enlarged and beautified the city and re- 
formed the law courts. Abroad, he carried his victori- 
ous arms until he had made himself master of all 
Anahuac, and his enemies, as well as some of his own 
vassals, trembled at his name. He taxed heavily those 
whom he conquered to keep up his own magnificence, 
and the taxes were paid from fear, not from love. 

Montezimia hated Tlascala. He sent against it an 
army under his son. The army was crushed and his 
son killed. He engaged all the tribes near Tlascala to 
punish them, but the Tlascalans drew back into their 



50 THE BOYS' PRESCOTT 

hills until their chance came, and then poured down the 
mountain-side like an avalanche on their foe and de- 
stroyed them. 

In 1516 Nezahualpilli died, leaving several sons. 
Cacama and Ixtlilzochitl were the two oldest. Monte- 
zuma favored Cacama and named him for the succes- 
sion. Ixtlilzochitl and his following stirred up a civil 
war, which ended in Cacama holding Tezcuco and half 
the kingdom under Montezuma, and the rest of the 
kingdom remaining with Ixtlilzochitl, who from that 
time hated Montezuma. 

While Cortes, therefore, down at Vera Cruz was 
waiting for Montezuma's answer, there were two points 
of which he was ignorant, but which were to be very 
helpful to him. The brave little state of Tlascala 
might be ready to help an enemy of Montezuma, and 
the conquered nations lying far from Mexico and 
bound to it only by fear might not exert themselves 
greatly to defend it. 



CHAPTER VII 

THE CUSTOMS OF THE AZTECS 

WE are not even yet quite ready to go back to 
join Cortes at Vera Cruz, for we want first 
to make more of a visit to the city of 
Tenochtitlan, or Mexico, to see how it is built and how 
its people live. 

We know that Tenochtitlan, the present city of 
Mexico, stood on piles driven into Lake Tezcuco. In 
its center was a large square which contained the royal 
palaces and the chief temple. From this square ran 
four broad avenues, north, south, east and west. As 
Tenochtitlan was really an island, three of these avenues 
became causeways to join the city to the neighboring 
mainland. The northern causeway was called the dyke 
of Tepejacac; the southern, the dyke of Iztapalapan; 
and the western, the shortest of the three, the dyke of 
Tlacopan. The causeways were built of lime and stone 
and were wide enough for ten horsemen to ride abreast. 
They were cut through in places by canals, and the 
bridges over the canals were draw-bridges which could 
be raised if necessary. 

The center of the square and the center of the whole 
city was the great temple shut in by its stone wall eight 
feet high. The wall opened on four sides to the main 
avenues. Over each entrance was an arsenal filled with 
ammunition, and ten thousand soldiers were kept in 
barracks near by. The temple itself was built in five 

51 



52 THE BOYS' PRESCOTT 

terraces, of huge blocks of stone, on a base three hun- 
dred feet square. Each terrace was a story, and the 
one hundred and fourteen steps which led up outside 
were so arranged that to reach the top story one had to 
pass four times around the building. The top was a 
flat roof of paving-stones with two towers, before which 
fire burned continually on two altars. This temple in 
the middle of the city, with a broad street running from 
each of its four sides, and its big, flat roof high above 
all the surrounding buildings, was set like a fortress in 
the heart of Tenochtitlan. 

Most of the other streets were narrow, for the canals 
were the real streets. Tenochtitlan was an Indian 
Venice. To the Aztecs, their canoes were their horses, 
and the water their avenue. Some of the canals had 
footpaths beside them and footbridges over them. 
Most of the bridges were draw-bridges, like those on 
the great causeways, so that at a moment's notice the 
bridges could be raised and the city not only cut off from 
the mainland, but one part of the city could be divided 
from another. 

Not content with building a firm city in the lake, some 
of the Mexicans lived on floating islands. The poorer 
people made, out of reeds tightly woven together, rafts 
two hundred feet long, covered three or four feet deep 
with rich soil taken from the lake bottom. Here they 
raised flowers and vegetables for the market of Tenoch- 
titlan. Some of these islands were firm enough for 
trees to grow on, and sometimes their owners built huts 
on them and lived there. Then, with a long pole, they 
pushed their gardens around, like houseboats, through 
the shallow water on the lake edge and sold their vege- 
tables as they grew. 



THE CUSTOMS OF THE AZTECS 53 

Tenochtitlan was nearly nine miles in circumference. 
It held about sixtj^ thousand houses and probabty about 
three hundred thousand people. A thousand men 
daily watered and cleaned the streets, so that a man 
"could walk through them with as little danger of soil- 
ing his feet as his hands," an old Spaniard says. Water 
was brought into the city by a great aqueduct from the 
hill of Chapultepec — "the grasshoppers' hill" — where 
JMontezmna had his summer palace. A double line of 
pipes was laid so that there could be always one in 
repaii*. Through this pipe a stream of water as big as 
a man's body ran down from the hill into all the foun- 
tains and reservoirs of Tenochtitlan. There were open- 
ings in the aqueduct where it crossed the bridges, and 
through these openings water was let into cans in canoes 
and carried to all parts of the city. 

The Aztecs not only brought into their city pure 
water for household purposes, but they used canal irri- 
gation systems. There were very severe laws, too, 
against cutting the forests, and the trees, also, helped 
the moisture of the land. Agriculture was held in high 
esteem. Special gods looked after it, the months were 
named for it, and all Aztecs, except royalty, the high 
nobility and the merchants, were farmers in more or 
less degree. The men did most of the work but the 
women helped sow the seed and husk the corn which 
gave them their flour, while from the stalks they made 
sugar. Besides Indian corn, they raised cacao and 
bananas and the Mexican aloe or maguey, which was 
their chief stay. The root was good to eat; the juice 
was manufactured into a di'ink; its leaves were crushed 
into a pulp and made into paper, and what were left 
over were used to thatch the peasants' roofs; its fibers 



54 THE BOYS' PRESCOTT 

made cord and thread; and its thorns pins and needles. 
It might well be called "a Swiss Family Robinson tree." 

Merchants, as well as farmers, were much respected 
in Anahuac. Besides the great markets, there were no 
shops. The merchants, with their rich goods of gold 
and silver, feather work and fine cotton stuffs, traveled 
over their own countries and even into others. As 
there were no horses in Mexico, porters carried the 
goods, each man having a load of fifty or sixty pounds. 
Rich merchants traveled with a large retinue, which 
became an army in case of attack and defended their 
masters' goods. The country to which the merchant 
belonged was always ready enough, too, to send soldiers 
to his support if he suffered in a foreign land, for every 
tribe was glad of an excuse to attack a foe and conquer 
it. Very often the prince employed these merchants as 
spies as they traveled about. They made a guild of 
their own and were allowed special privileges. 

In the western part of Tenochtitlan was the great 
market of Tlateloco, whose enclosure was three times 
the size of the great Square of Salamanca, the largest 
square in Spain. It was surrounded by a portico where 
each tradesman had his booth. Merchants from all 
Anahuac met here, goldsmiths, potters, painters, stone- 
cutters, chair-makers, florists, fruiterers, fishermen, 
hunters — each eager to sell his wares. The most beau- 
tiful things were the pieces of fine cotton gorgeously 
dyed, the wonderfully wrought gold ornaments, and the 
feather work for which the Mexican Indians were 
famous. They wove tapestry and cloaks out of the 
feathers of the gay tropical birds so skilfully that the 
work looked like embroidery or painting. 

Market day was the fifth day of every week, and the 



THE CUSTOMS OF THE AZTECS 55 

market on that day often held fifty thousand people. 
The trading was sometimes done by barter, and some- 
times by the currencj^ of the country which consisted of 
bits of tin stamped with a T, bags of cacao and quills 
of gold-dust. Officers were stationed in the market to 
see that no one cheated and that the required customs 
were paid. 

The Aztecs had a knowledge of arithmetic to help 
them in their business affairs. The children were 
taught aritlimetic, astronomy, history, mythology, and 
some of them were taught picture-writing. They did 
not need grammar as their only writing was by pic- 
tures. The temples were the schools ; the priests taught 
the boys and the priestesses taught the girls. In arith- 
metic a series of dots stood for the numbers up to 
twenty. Twenty was a flag, and from that they went 
on with flags and dots to a hundred. The square of 
twenty was a plume and its cube was a purse. If they 
wanted a fraction, they drew only part of the plume. 
The Aztecs knew a good deal about the solar system 
and marked out a year for themselves, dividing it into 
eighteen months of twenty days each, and adding five 
days that belonged to no month at all and were thought 
to be unlucky. A month was divided into four weeks 
of five days each, and the last day was fair-day. The 
Aztecs understood eclipses, but it is not certain that 
they had arranged a system of constellations. 

Montezuma, who had had the training of both priest 
and warrior, was very well educated. He began his 
reign humbly, remembering he had been a priest, but 
soon he seemed to forget that, in his increasing power 
as a warrior. He grew bold and fierce and harsh, both 
with his own subjects and the outlying nations he con- 



56 THE BOYS' PRESCOTT 

quered, laying on them heavy taxes to pay for his lux- 
ury. He soon thought his father's palace — the palace 
of Axayacatl on the west side of the great square of 
Tenochtitlan — was not good enough for him and built 
for himself on the south side of the square, facing the 
temple, a new palace of red stone, ornamented with 
marble. Though low, like most of the Aztec houses, 
it covered so much ground that one of the Spaniards 
said he was tired out in walking through it, and another 
said that on its terraced roof thirty knights might have 
held a tournament. Its woodwork was of carved cedar 
put together without a nail, and the walls were hung 
with fine, gorgeously dyed cotton cloth, with furs and 
with tapestry of the wonderful feather work. With- 
out were courtyards with fountains, beautiful gardens, 
aviaries and menageries. The summer palace at Cha- 
pultapec was even more luxurious. 

The Emperor lived in state among all these fine sur- 
roundings. His halls were filled with his train of 
nobles. He was served by men of high birth. He 
bathed once every day and changed his dress four times. 
He never wore a garment twice, but gave it away. He 
ate alone. He had game from the forests, and fish 
caught twenty-four hours before in the Gulf of Mexico, 
two hundred miles away, and carried by the swift-footed 
Indian "postmen" straight to the royal table. His 
pastry was made of corn-flour. Hundreds of dishes 
were spread on the floor before the Emperor ; he pointed 
out those that he wanted and they were kept hot in 
chafing-dishes. Then a screen was put around him and 
he was served on a low table. He drank chocolate 
beaten to a froth and served in a gold cup. Then a gold 
finger-bowl was brought and his meal was done. Din- 



THE CUSTOMS OF THE AZTECS 57 

ner finished, he smoked while jugglers amused him. 
Afterward came a nap, and then the Emperor was 
ready for his business of state; the receiving of am- 
bassadors from foreign states or from his own vassals. 
So high a position had Montezuma made for himself 
tlu'ough his victorious wars that the greatest noble 
could come into his presence only with down-cast eyes, 
with no shoes and with a coarse cloak thrown over his 
rich clothing. 

^lontezuma made all the laws for Mexico and ap- 
pointed judges to see that the laws were carried out. 
These judges held office for life and their word was 
final. No one could appeal from their decision even to 
the Emperor. If a judge took a bribe he was killed. 
Each chief city had its judge, and under him were less 
important magistrates whom the people chose for them- 
selves. 

Courts were held where cases were tried. There 
were no lawyers; each party stated his own case and 
brought in his own witnesses. The testimony was writ- 
ten in picture-writing by a clerk. If punishment by 
death was declared, a line was traced with an arrow 
across the portrait of the man condemned. Some of 
the laws were severe. Not only murder, but sometimes 
robbery and drunkenness v/ere punished by death. 
Montezuma watched over his law courts carefully and 
dealt severely with any WTong-doing on the part of the 
judges. Sometimes he wandered about in disguise to 
see how they were conducting themselves. 

But however much Montezuma seemed to forget his 
priestly training, it really at bottom never lost its influ- 
ence. He was intensely religious according to the 
queer mingling in Aztec religion of gentle, poetic faith 



58 THE BOYS' PRESCOTT 

and ferocious fanaticism. Perhaps the Mexicans, in 
following the Toltecs, had found and adopted a mild 
religion and had fastened on it some of their own fierce 
beliefs, until it had become a savage religion of super- 
stition and human sacrifice and cannibalism. 

Although the Aztecs believed in a supreme God 
whom they addressed as "the God by whom we Hve; 
omnipresent; that knoweth all thoughts; and giveth all 
gifts; without whom man is as nothing; invisible, in- 
corporeal, one God of perfect perfection and purity; 
under whose wings we find repose and a sure defense," 
this idea of one God as Spirit was too great for their 
savage minds really to comprehend, and they made, for 
their daily and more intimate worship, thirteen other 
chief gods and two hundred inferior gods, to whom they 
consecrated special days and festivals. Like the 
Greeks, they made gods of the seasons and the harvests 
and of various occupations. They were all symboHzed 
by images of wood or stone or metal and were usually 
uncouth and hideous. 

Their supreme deity, invisible Spirit, who had no 
image or temple, stood first. Next came a mild god, 
Tezcatlipoca, who created the world and watched over 
it. He had his place in one of the two sanctuaries on 
the temple area. The other sanctuary was dedicated 
to a frightful conception whom the Aztecs called 
Huitzilopotchli, their war god. His altar called con- 
stantly for human sacrifices. In their wars the Mexi- 
cans tried not to kill their foes but to take them alive. 
The captives were fattened like beasts, and on great 
festivals to Huitzilopotchli they were killed by thou- 
sands on his altars, and their flesh was eaten by the 
Aztecs at their banquets which attended the festival. 



THE CUSTOMS OF THE AZTECS 59 

Huitzilopotchli had many hundreds of priests, men and 
women, in his temples ; in the great temple of Tenoch- 
titlan there were five thousand priests, who taught or 
painted or sung or offered sacrifices. At their head 
were two high-priests, second in authority only to the 
Emperor, and his advisers in all public matters. 

Quetzalcoatl, god of the air, was another important 
deity of the Aztecs. Their history said that Quetzal- 
coatl had once as a man lived among them. He had 
been a loving and generous friend; he made them benef- 
icent laws; he instructed them in farming; he taught 
them the use of metals, gold and silver and the obsidian 
which the Aztecs used as steel. His worship was mild 
and loving, for he forbade human sacrifice and sought 
only to benefit man. But tradition said that one of the 
other chief gods grew jealous of Quetzalcoatl, who was 
obhged to leave the country. On his way to the coast 
he stopped at the city of Cholula and lingered some 
years teaching its inhabitants. A great temple was 
built here in Quetzalcoatl's honor when he moved on, 
and this temple made Cholula the Sacred City of Ana- 
huac. 

Quetzalcoatl in the meantime went down to the gulf 
and embarked in his mystic canoe made of snake skins 
and sailed away, promising sometime to come back. 
The people watched him go, and when his tall form — 
white-skinned, dark-haired — faded from sight, they 
called him The Fair God, and set themselves patiently 
to wait for his return with his followers to rule again 
in Anahuac. 

At the end of every fifty-two years, when in Decem- 
ber came the five unlucky days which ended the year, 
the Aztecs thought the end of the world was coming. 



60 THE BOYS' PRESCOTT 

They broke to pieces their furniture and utensils, as 
well as their little household idols; the sacred fires in 
the temples were allowed to go out; everything was in 
wild disorder. On the evening of the fifth day the 
priests, in their richest dress, marched in procession out 
of the capital to a high mountain six miles away, carry- 
ing with them materials to kindle a new fire. They 
reached the mountain before midnight, and waited till 
the Pleiades were at the zenith, when by rubbing sticks 
together, they attempted to start a new fire. If the fire 
was lighted, it was a sign that the world would last 
another fifty-two years, and as the flames leaped up and 
caught the pile above it, shouts of joy arose from all 
the housetops in Tenochtitlan, where the people were 
anxiously watching the mountain-top. Before the sun 
rose, fast-running couriers had carried all over the 
country torches started at the new fire, 30 their altars 
and hearths were once more alight. 

Then the people went to work to buy new gods and 
furniture and to clean their houses. When that was 
done, dressed in their best, they all went to the temple 
to return thanks. The days following were given up 
to feasting and dancing. 

Such were the Aztecs under their Emperor, Monte- 
zuma. He himself was almost as queer a mixture of 
hardness and softness as was his religion. For some- 
time now he had been looking for the return of Quetzal- 
coatl, "the Fair God." Many omens had pointed that 
way. In 1510 the Lake of Tezcuco suddenly over- 
flowed its banks and swept away part of Tenochtitlan. 
The next year one of the temple towers caught fire, 
also without any apparent reason, and could not be put 



THE CUSTOMS OF, THE AZTECS 61 

out. The year following this, three comets appeared, 
and as late as 1518 a strange light that covered the 
whole eastern sky like a sparkling sea of fii'e had caused 
great terror not only to Montezuma but to all the people 
of Anahuac. 

JNIontezuma had consulted the King of Tezcuco about 
this last omen, which happened not long before Gri- 
jalva's apj)earance on the coast, and NezahualpilH had 
told him that it meant the downfall of the Aztec em- 
pire. When the news of Grijalva's landing came to 
Montezuma, he trembled. Surely this was Quetzal- 
coatl, the Fair God, come back, but was he coming to 
bless or to punish? 

Grijalva, however, departed without disturbing 
Montezuma, who again forgot he was a priest and went 
on with his exactions as a warrior. The omens could 
not mean what Nezahualpilli had said. 

And then to this great king on his throne in Tenoch- 
titlan came Teuhtlile's messengers, running from the 
seacoast with the picture newspaper in their hands. 
More white beings had arrived on huge white-winged 
birds. Some of the beings were half-man and half- 
beast with iron feet. Thunder and lightning came 
from their weapons. 

Montezuma studied the pictures and listened to the 
reports, and again he trembled. Was Nezahualpilli 
right? Was this Quetzalcoatl? How should he meet 
him? 

And then the two parts of Montezuma's nature be- 
gan to argue. The warrior-half said, "Here is a foe; 
let us go down and crush him." The priestly half said, 
"It is the return of the god ; let us go down and welcome 



62 THE BOYS' PRESCOTT 

him." And how could Montezuma tell which side was 
right? 

The Emperor was not happy as he sat in his palace 
studying Teuhthle's picture-writing. 



CHAPTER VIII 

CORTES' NEW COMMISSION 

1519 

AS Montezuma studied the picture-writing in 
Tenochtitlan and wondered what answer to 
send back to the white invader, Cortes, down 
in the "warm lands" of the Mexican coast, had not 
wasted time while he waited. 

The soldiers, unused to the tropical heat, found the 
bm*ning, sandy beach very trying, though the friendly 
natives did all they could to make their guests com- 
fortable. The Indians had made huts for themselves 
near the Spanish camp where, free of charge, they pre- 
pared for Cortes and his officers meals of game, fish, 
corn-cakes, pineapples and bananas. The soldiers paid 
for their food with beads and trinkets, which they some- 
times exchanged, too, for tiny bits of gold. Velasquez' 
friends thought that this was infringing on the rights 
of the Governor of Cuba, but Cortes did not interfere ; 
he knew when to shut his eyes. He passed over always 
many small matters, but when he gave an order he never 
drew back. That made him a great leader. 

There were only eight days of waiting before Teuht- 
lile came with the two Aztec nobles who had brought 
Montezuma's answer. One of the nobles had been 
chosen because he looked so like the picture of Cortes 
that Teuhtlile had sent to Tenochtitlan. The soldiers 

63 



64 THE BOYS' PRESCOTT 

recognized the likeness to their leader and called him 
"the Mexican Cortes." 

Montezuma, after all his argument between warrior 
and priest, had, in his uncertainty, chosen the worst 
policy of all; he was afraid to welcome Cortes boldly; 
he was afraid to fight him boldly; so he temporized. 
He sent presents to appease Cortes, and these presents 
showed the Spanish general how rich the Emperor was. 
He forbade Cortes to come to Mexico, and this showed 
Cortes that Montezuma was afraid of him. This is the 
vaguely polite message that the nobles delivered: "It 
gives our master great pleasure to hold this communi- 
cation with so powerful a monarch as the King of Spain, 
for whom he feels the most profound respect. He re- 
grets much that he cannot enjoy a personal interview 
with the Spaniards, but the distance of his capital is 
too great; since the journey is beset with difficulties, 
and with too many dangers from formidable enemies, 
to make it possible. All that can be done, therefore, is 
for the strangers to return to their own land, with the 
proofs thus afforded them of his friendly disposition." 

Cortes thanked the Aztecs for the wonderful gifts, 
too wise to show his annoyance and disappointment at 
their reply. 

"It makes me only the more desirous," he said, "to 
have a personal interview with Montezuma. I should 
feel it, indeed, impossible to present myself again be- 
fore my own sovereign, without having accomplished 
this great object of my voyage; and one, who has sailed 
over two thousand leagues of ocean, holds lightly the 
perils and fatigues of so short a journey by land." 

The envoys told Cortes coldly that his message would 
not change Montezuma's decision. They went away 



CORTES' NEW COMMISSION 65 

in not very friendly spirit, taking as presents to their 
Emperor some linen sheets, a Florentine goblet and 
other things of little value. 

The huge treasure they left behind at once set the 
Spaniards quarreling. Some were anxious at once to 
possess themselves of a country rich enough to send all 
this wealth as a present to a foreign king. Others 
thought it would be folly to attack so powerful a king, 
and that the true wisdom would be to take what they 
had and sail back to Cuba for new instructions and more 
men from the Governor. They all spoke freely, for 
they were soldiers of fortune and felt themselves equal 
to their leader. It is not hard to tell which side Cortes 
would be on, though he listened and said nothing. 

There were reasons for a move of some sort. The 
heat and the mosquitoes had so told on the Spaniards 
that they could scarcely endure it any longer. Thirty 
of their number had died. And now since the un- 
friendly departure of the envoys, the natives who had 
fed Cortes' camp, began to ask huge prices for the food. 

As, added to all these things, there was no harbor for 
the vessels at this point, Cortes sent Alaminos, the pilot, 
cruising along the shore for a better place for set- 
tling. 

While he was gone the envoys came back once more 
from Montezuma. They entered the camp with the 
same ceremony, and brought additional presents, but 
their answer was the same as before. Montezuma told 
the strangers — politely — that now they had what they 
wanted, they would better go home, and forbade them 
to go any nearer Tenochtitlan. Cortes received the 
edict courteously, but turning to an officer he said, 

"This is a rich and powerful prince indeed; yet it 



66 THE BOYS' PRESCOTT 

shall go hard, but we will one day pay him a visit in his 
capital!" 

While he was speaking, the vesper bell rang. Im- 
mediately the Spanish soldiers fell on their knees in 
prayer before the wooden cross which was set in the 
sandy beach. The Aztecs looked in interest at this 
strange worship, and Cortes seized the occasion to con- 
vert them to the Christian faith, for that he considered 
the chief object of his visit to the comitry. He had 
Father Olmedo preach them a sermon, which Aguilar 
translated to Marina, and she, to the Mexicans. They 
listened coldly and withdrew as soon as the sermon was 
finished. That same night the natives broke up their 
camp and disappeared, and Cortes found himself left 
in a strange land without supplies. 

In a few days another band of Indians came in — 
five of them — looking very unlike the Mexicans. They 
wore in their nose and ears gold rings set with bright 
blue stones, and a thin leaf made of gold hung from 
their lower lip. 

Marina could not understand their language, but 
fortunately two of their party understood Aztec. 
They said they were Totonacs from Cempoalla, which 
had lately been conquered by Montezuma. They 
hated Montezuma because of his many oppressions, and 
they invited Cortes to come to Cempoalla. 

Cortes caught at once at the idea that Montezuma had 
enemies in his own kingdom. He promised to visit 
Cempoalla, and sent the envoys back with presents. 

Then Alaminos returned from his expedition. He 
had found a place near the city of Chiahuitzla where 
the ships might harbor and where, on the adjoining 
shore, there were streams to supply the camp with fresh 



CORTES' NEW COMMISSION 67 

water. Cortes decided to move his settlement to this 
spot. 

The party who were ready to go home were very 
much displeased with this decision. They wanted to 
go back to Cuba, instead of sailing to another spot 
where "the whole Mexican Empire" might come down 
on them. 

Cortes did not argue; he merely told them patiently 
that as everything had gone on well so far, it would go 
even better in a better situation, and left them to their 
discussions. 

Cortes had a good many strong personal friends in 
his party who were ready to argue if he was not. Al- 
varado, always bold, was among them. These men, 
eager to go forward, had such confidence in Cortes that 
they would follow him anywhere. They perceived that 
his warrant from Velasquez did not give him any more 
power to found a colony than Grijalva had possessed, 
but they had seen too much of the riches of the country 
to be wilUng to go back now with their small gains and 
place all the honor of the expedition in Velasquez' hands 
when, with a little more effort, they could establish 
themselves in the country and reap a rich harvest. Gri- 
jalva had obeyed Velasquez to the letter and had been 
punished for his obedience; Cortes might learn from 
Grijalva's fate not to trust the Governor of Cuba. 

These friends of Cortes' set themselves to persuade 
the bigger part of the soldiers of the necessity of Cortes' 
going on up to take possession of Mexico if his follow- 
ers were to get the riches of the country for themselves 
and for the King of Spain, instead of meekly turning it 
all over to Velasquez. 

"To return now," they said, "is to abandon the enter- 



68 THE BOYS' PRESCOTT 

prise on the threshold, which, under such a leader, must 
conduct to glory and incalculable riches. To return to 
Cuba will be to surrender to the greedy governor the 
little gains we have already got. The only way is to 
persuade the general to establish a permanent colony 
in the country, the government of which will take the 
conduct of matters into its own hands, and provide for 
the interests of its members. It is true, Cortes has no 
such authority from Velasquez. But the interests of 
the Sovereigns, which are paramount to every other, 
imperatively demand it." 

Although their meetings were held very secretly at 
night, the friends of Velasquez' heard by and by of 
what Cortes' friends were doing. They accused Cor- 
tes himself of stirring up the trouble, and declared it 
was treason. They called on him to go directly back to 
Cuba if he would prove his loyalty to Velasquez. 

Cortes kept his temper — as he usually did. "Noth- 
ing," he said, "is further from my desire than to exceed 
my instructions. I, indeed, prefer to remain in the 
country, and continue my profitable intercourse with 
the natives. But, since the army thinks otherwise, I 
shall defer to their opinion, and give orders to return, 
as they desire." 

At once he issued a proclamation for the troops to 
be ready to embark the next morning to return to Cuba. 
It was a bold experiment; if they obeyed, it was the 
end of the expedition, but if, on the other hand, they 
insisted on going on up to Mexico — as Cortes was sure 
they would — the responsibility was theirs, and they 
could not later complain to the leader if things went 
wrong. 

It happened as Cortes had thought. The proclama- 



CORTES' NEW COMMISSION 69 

tion stirred the army tremendously. Even those who 
had demanded the retm-n began to wish that they had 
been wilhng to carry the adventure further. As for 
Cortes' friends, they thronged around his tent and 
called on him to countermand his orders. 

"We came here," they said, "expecting to form a 
settlement, if the state of the country authorized it. 
Now it seems you have no warrant from the governor 
to make one. But there are interests, higher than those 
of Velasquez, which demand it. These territories are 
not his property, but were discovered for the Sovereign ; 
and it is necessary to plant a colony to watch over his 
interests, instead of wasting time in idle barter, or, 
still worse, of returning, in the present state of affairs, 
to Cuba. If you refuse, we shall protest against your 
conduct as disloyal to His Highness." 

Cortes seemed surprised at this new idea that he was 
responsible to Charles V, King of Spain, instead of to 
Velasquez. He said he must have time to think it over. 

The next day he called the soldiers together again 
and made them this speech. *' There is no one, if I know 
my own heart, more deeply devoted than myself to the 
welfare of my sovereign, and the glory of the Spanish 
name. I have not only expended my all, but have in- 
curred heavy debts, to meet the charges of this expedi- 
tion, and have hoped to reimburse myself by continuing 
my traffic with the Mexicans. But, if the soldiers think 
a different course advisable, I am ready to postpone my 
own advantage to the good of the state." 

The army responded to his appeal and demanded a 
new government. Cortes, on the spot, appointed two 
magistrates, Puertocarrero, a firm friend of his own, 
and Monte jo, a firm friend of Velasquez, thus taking 



70 THE BOYS' PRESCOTT 

one from each party. The other officers, however, were 
all his own friends. They were sworn into office at 
once, and the city was called, "the Kich Town of the 
True Cross," Villa Rica de Vera Cruz, putting into its 
name their hopes of spiritually helping the natives 
while, at the same time, they made themselves materi- 
ally rich. 

The new government at once assembled. Cortes, hat 
in hand, came before them, laid his commission from 
Velasquez on the table, and resigned his office of Cap- 
tain-General. This office Velasquez had given him, and 
it was no longer of any authority, since the expedition 
had thrown off allegiance to Velasquez and put the 
whole government into the hands of the Magistracy of 
Villa Kica de Vera Cruz. 

Cortes, with a deep bow, left the room. The new 
government discussed the matter a little and then called 
him back. They told him that as there was no one so 
well-fitted as he to command the expedition, the gov- 
ernment had unanimously named him, in behalf of the 
King, Captain-General and Chief Justice of the new 
state, with the right to one-fifth of all the treasure the 
expedition should gain. 

Thus Cortes was a long step ahead. Instead of lay- 
ing down his authority and returning to Velasquez, 
who had sent him out, the whole expedition had broken 
with Velasquez, and announced themselves under no 
one but the King of Spain. In the name of the King 
of Spain they had formed a new government, and put 
in Cortes' hands the supreme military and civil power. 
What could he ask more? He had authority now, not 
only to trade with the Indians, but to take Mexico and 
settle there if he could. 



CORTES' NEW COMMISSION 71 

The government was formed and Cortes held his new 
commission before the friends of Velasquez had fairly 
opened their eyes. When they saw what had been 
done, they broke out in indignant reproaches of dis- 
loyalty. Cortes' party replied as violently, and the 
camp became a scrimmage. 

Cortes exercised his new authority. He picked out 
from the opposition party Ordaz, Leon and his page 
Escobar, and sent them in irons on board the fleet. 
Their men he sent out to forage for provisions, under 
Alvarado, with a strong band of Cortes' followers. 

While they were gone, Cortes used all his powers to 
make those of his enemies who remained in camp see 
things as he saw them. They yielded at last — ^whether 
convinced bj^ reason or gold — and when the foraging 
party came back with food, there was only one party 
in camp — those in favor of Cortes. There was plenty 
of food and that helped to make every one good-na- 
tured. Even the haughty cavaliers in irons were glad 
to loose them and join the banquet on shore. It was 
again a united band set on the great adventure of 
marching up to Tenochtitlan. After this, through the 
whole expedition, Ordaz and Leon were among Cortes' 
strongest and most loyal friends. 

So Cortes' plan had succeeded. He held still su- 
preme power, and it was his now absolutely. Only 
Charles V was above him; if he could make the King 
his friend it no longer mattered what Velasquez thought 
or did. Cortes had changed a military community into 
a civil government, and had made his enemies into his 
friends, till all were ready to acknowledge his authority 
and follow him into danger. In defying Velasquez, 
every soldier in camp had joined his fortune to Cortes, 



72 THE BOYS' PRESCOTT 

and they must stand or fall together. Thus Cortes had 
fairly started to carry out his great idea — the Conquest 
of Mexico. That vision burned before his eyes and 
lured him on. Nothing was to turn him from it till he 
had made it a reality. 

We follow him with breathless interest. We may 
doubt his right to seize the wealth of another country, 
and we may think there is trickery or cruelty in some of 
his methods of gaining his ends. We judge Cortes' 
acts by the standards of the times in which he lived, 
when war was a noble occupation, and scheming in poli- 
tics was wisdom. But his character will stand the test 
of all times ; his good-temper in hardships, his unfalter- 
ing courage, his constancy of purpose, his large vision, 
his knowledge of men, his ability to make and hold 
friends — all are traits so fine that, in spite of what we 
condemn, we must still admire the man Cortes. 



CHAPTER IX 

CORTES SINKS HIS SHIPS 
1519 

THE quarrel over, Cortes had the heavy guns put 
aboard the ships, and sent them under Alaminos' 
guidance north along the shore to the spot the 
pilot had selected for a camp. Cortes, himself, at the 
head of his troops set out for Cempoalla to see what 
friends he could make of the Totonacs, who were ready 
to rise against Montezuma's rule. 

For a good many miles the army marched across 
sandy wastes, until they came to a river which they 
crossed on rafts. Beyond the river were grassy plains 
and groves of cacaos and feathery palms. The Span- 
iards saw deer and game, wild turkeys among the rest, 
though they thought them peacocks. 

As they came nearer Cempoalla they were met by 
twelve envoys sent by the cacique, who helped the Span- 
iards make camp for the night, and who supplied them 
with food. The next morning they were on the march 
again through green meadows and wonderful groves of 
trees hung with grape-vines and wild morning-glories, 
while the undergrowth was crowded by wild roses and 
honeysuckle. Among these sweet-scented things flut- 
tered butterflies of every tint, and gay-colored, sweet- 
songed birds. The Spaniards thought they had found 
a "terrestrial paradise." 

Nearer the city, they found tidy little gardens and 

73 



74 THE BOYS' PRESCOTT 

orchards. Crowds of men and women met them and 
hung flower wreaths around the horses' necks. The 
city itself held more than twenty thousand houses of 
stone thatched with palm leaves so cleverly woven as to 
be rain-proof. 

As the Spaniards marched slowly through the nar- 
row streets of Cempoalla, it was hard to tell whether 
the city was more of a sight to them, or they to the 
city. Both parties were friendly in their curiosity. 
The cacique, very tall and fat, met Cortes with much 
ceremony in front of his house, and quartered the Span- 
iards in a temple nearby, whose courtyard was large 
enough to hold the whole army. Here he sent them a 
comfortable meal of meat and corn-bread, as well as 
a large present of gold and fine cotton cloth. 

In spite of all this friendliness, Cortes posted his 
guards, placed his artillery, and ordered his men to keep 
within bounds. He believed in the saying, "Eternal 
vigilance is the price of safety." On the march his 
soldiers were always in order of battle; in camp, they 
often slept on their arms. 

The Totonacs had no thought of treachery, however. 
The Spaniards slept safely, and in the morning Cortes 
and fifty men went to visit the cacique. Cortes left his 
men in the courtyard, taking with him into the house 
itself only one ofiicer and Marina. 

"I am a subject," said Cortes, "of a great king across 
the seas. I have come to teach the Aztecs about the 
true God and to destroy the cruel worship which de- 
mands human sacrifice." 

The cacique answered, "My gods who bring sunshine 
and rain are good enough for me. But I am vassal of 
the Aztec Emperor. He is a powerful monarch, whose 



CORTES SINKS HIS SHIPS 75 

capital stands in a lake far off across the mountains. 
He is a stern prince, forcing tribute from us mercilessly. 
If we resist, he carries off our young men and maidens 
to sacrifice at his altars." 

Cortes told the cacique that he had come to help all 
the oppressed, and that he was ready to help the Toto- 
nac tribes overthrow the tyranny of Montezuma. 

That impressed the cacique; he said the Totonacs 
numbered thousands, and not only all Totonacs, but 
many other tribes also, hated Montezuma. They had 
heard of Cortes and his great deeds at Tabasco. But 
they were not yet ready to put their fortmies to the 
touch by defying "the great Montezuma." They had 
suffered too much by his former punishments. Only 
the Tlascalans — shut into their mountain fort by their 
great wall — were able to hold their own against the 
Mexicans. 

Cortes' answer was a boast. "A single Spaniard is 
stronger than a host of Aztecs. I do not need help, 
but I must know which tribes are my friends and which 
are my foes in this war I have before me, that I may 
know whom to protect and spare." 

Having thus made an impression on the cacique, and 
obtained the information he wanted, Cortes bade a 
friendly farewell and, after a promise to return later, 
set off for the town of Chiahuitzla, near the harbor to 
which he had sent his fleet. The cacique gave him, to 
carry his baggage, four hundred Indian porters. They 
were so well trained that they could carry fifty pounds 
twenty-five miles a day. 

Cortes went with a satisfied mind. He had meant 
to conquer the country at whatever cost. Now he 
found that a good many of the tribes he had thought he 



76 THE BOYS' PRESCOTT 

would have to fight, he might turn into aUies to help 
him against the Aztecs whom they hated. 

After a few days' march, Cortes reached Chiahuitzla, 
perched like a fortress on the rocks above the Gulf of 
Mexico. The city was nearly empty, for its inhabitants 
had fled at the appearance of the white men. Fifteen 
of the principal citizens, however, were waiting to wel- 
come Cortes, and little by little the others stole back. 
While Cortes was in conference with them, in came the 
fat cacique of Cempoalla, carried by his men on a Utter. 
He wanted to know what was going on. 

As they were gathered in the market-place, there 
came into the square five men of lordly look and rich 
dress, followed by their servants. They regarded the 
Spaniards coldly and did not return their greeting. 
The Totonac chiefs immediately left Cortes and hur- 
ried, with apologetic haste, to the newcomers. Cortes, 
rather puzzled, turned to Marina, and she said that 
these five nobles were Aztecs come to collect tribute for 
Montezuma. 

The next moment the Totonac chiefs came back to 
Cortes in the greatest dismay. The Aztecs demanded 
twenty young men and women to sacrifice to their gods 
to appease them for the dishonor done them by 
the Indians in receiving and entertaining the white 
men. 

Cortes very coolly told the Totonacs to refuse to give 
up the girls and boys and, more than that, to arrest the 
messengers. 

The Totonacs were in a hard place. Whichever one 
they obeyed, the other would punish them. Cortes was 
the one at hand and strong in his confidence and prom- 
ises, so very tremblingly they obeyed him. To their 



CORTES SINKS HIS SHIPS 77 

own unbounded surprise the Aztec nobles were seized, 
bound and placed under guard. 

Cortes, as he had done once before, was playing a 
double game. His men secretly freed two of the 
prisoners and brought them to Cortes, who protested 
his sympathy with their plight and sent them back to 
Montezuma with messages of his friendship, in spite 
of the way Montezuma had treated him. 

The Totonacs in the morning were very angry at the 
escape of two of their captives. They wanted imme- 
diately to sacrifice the others to their gods. Cortes was 
horrified at the idea and sent the Aztecs, for safety, to 
the fleet in the harbor nearby. From the ships they, 
too, were allowed to escape. 

While he was thus placating the Aztecs, Cortes was 
at the same time stirring up the Totonacs to further 
revolt. He induced the chiefs to send messengers to all 
the outlying tribes, calling on them, also, to refuse 
tribute to Montezuma. 

The messengers found the country in great commo- 
tion. The servants of the five envoys had fled when 
their masters were taken, and they had carried with 
them frightful tales of the bold white men who had in- 
sulted Montezuma's emissaries. The Indians from all 
sides poured into Chiahuitzla, eager to find their old 
freedom. A few of the fearful ones hesitated, but most 
of them took the oath of allegiance to the Spanish king 
and put themselves under Cortes. 

Cortes then set to work to erect his city on the shore 
near the harbor two or three miles from Chiahuitzla. 
The Indians helped him. In a few weeks the new Villa 
Rica de Vera Cruz was built and the government trans- 
ferred to it. 



78 THE BOYS' PUESCOTT 

While the city was still building, a new embassy- 
arrived from Montezmna. The news of the imprison- 
ment of his envoys had raised the Emperor's anger and 
made him a warrior, ready to defy Cortes. But when 
the envoys returned safe, saying it was Cortes who had 
freed them, Montezuma fell back into his old uncer- 
tainty, wondering what to do. In this state of mind he 
had sent to Cortes another embassy with rich gifts to 
thank him for his courtesy to the envoys and to protest 
against Cortes' friendly attitude toward ^lontezuma's 
rebellious vassals. 

Cortes entertained this new embassy, giving it every 
chance to see his horses and guns. Then, with 
a few presents, he sent the Aztecs back to Tenochtit- 
lan. 

The Totonacs, seeing the Aztecs depart peaceably, 
were filled with awe. The Spaniards must indeed be 
gods if they could thus defy Montezuma and not be at 
once struck by his lightning. It would be well to sup- 
port them. They were still more impressed when Cor- 
tes ordered one of his own men hanged because he had 
stolen chickens from a native. Alvarado interfered 
and saved the man's life, but both Spaniards and In- 
dians had learned a lesson as to the strictness of Cortes' 
discipline. 

The fat cacique of Cempoalla went home again, and 
found that in his absence an enemy had marched against 
his city. He sent at once for Cortes, and Cortes, go- 
ing to Cempoalla, ended the quarrel without bloodshed. 
He became himself almost a god in Cempoalla, for the 
people had seen him defy Montezuma, deal out sharp 
justice to his own men, and arbitrate successfully be- 
tween two warlike nations. In his great gratitude, the 



CORTES SINKS HIS SHIPS 79 

cacique offered to Cortes eight rich maidens as wives 
to his generals. 

Cortes received them courteously, hut said that it 
would be necessary for the girls to be baptized, as Span- 
iards could marry only Christians. He said further 
that the great object of his expedition was to convert 
the Indians to Christianity, and asked that he might 
tear down the heathen idols and erect the cross. 

But the cacique declared again that his own gods 
suited him and that he would resist any attempt to re- 
place them, although that would not be necessary as the 
gods themselves would avenge any act of dishonor of- 
fered them. 

Cortes consulted with his soldiers. More than once 
since the Spaniards had landed they had seen the horrors 
of human sacrifice. The army now promised to stand 
behind Cortes in his effort to abolish the evil. Even 
gentle Father Olmedo, who so often held Cortes back 
from forcibly converting the natives, does not seem to 
have interfered this time. 

So Cortes answered the cacique, "Heaven will never 
smile on our enterprise, if we countenance such atro- 
cities, and, for my own part, I am resolved the Indian 
idols shall be demolished this very hour, if it costs me 
my Hfe." 

At once the Spaniards pressed toward the chief tem- 
ple in the city. The cacique called his men to arms and 
the Indians gathered from all sides. Their war-cries 
and their clashing weapons changed, in a twinkling, a 
peaceful camp into the appearance of a battle-ground. 
The ferocious priests, their dark gowns and long, mat- 
ted hair flying, rushed wildly through the crowd, call- 
ing on the people to protect their gods. 



80 THE BOYS' PRESCOTT 

Cortes did not waste time. He arrested the cacique 
and his chiefs, teUing them that he held them responsi- 
ble for any violence offered his men. Marina, too, 
warned the cacique that if he lost the friendship of 
Cortes, he would lose his protection against Monte- 
zuma's vengeance. The cacique yielded. He covered 
his face with his hands, murmuring that the gods would 
avenge their own wrongs. 

At a sign from Cortes, fifty soldiers crowded up the 
steep steps of the temple, and without opposition over- 
turned the big wooden idols and rolled them down the 
steps to the temple courtyard, where they were burned, 
the Spaniards shouting with joy and the Indians groan- 
ing with horror, while they waited to see their gods 
strike the white men dead. 

Instead, they saw their idols burning up like any 
other dry wood, and immediately they were converted; 
they would no longer worship gods who could not pro- 
tect themselves better than that; they consented to 
become Christians. 

Cortes had the temple walls cleansed from human 
blood and freshly plastered before he built an altar with 
a cross above it. The Indian priests also cleansed 
themselves, changed their dark gowns for white robes 
and joined in the procession that marched up to the 
temple to hear Father Olmedo say mass. Spaniards 
and Indians alike were melted to tears by the ceremony. 

An old soldier consented to stay on guard and teach 
the priests the new religion, while Cortes went to Vera 
Cruz to make further preparations for marching on 
Tenochtitlan. He found that in his absence a vessel 
containing twelve men and two horses had arrived. He 
was glad to join these recruits to his forces, but he did 



CORTES SINKS HIS SHIPS 81 

not like quite so well the news they brought — that Ve- 
lasquez, as Governor of Cuba, had received permission 
from Spain to plant a colony in Mexico. 

It drove Cortes to a plan he had been considering for 
some time. He had resigned from Velasquez' author- 
ity and held his power now from the citizens of Villa 
Rica. If he could put behind that the approval of 
King Charles himself, he would have nothing in the 
future to fear from the Governor of Cuba or any other 
authority. He determined to write a letter to the King, 
telling him of all he had done and of all he meant to do, 
and asking for the royal authority to take Mexico and 
plant colonies. With the letter, he meant to send so 
much gold that Charles should see it was worth while 
to uphold him. He gave up his own share of the 
treasm-e, and his chief officers gave up theirs, to send to 
the King ; more than that, the common soldiers, at Cor- 
tes' request, gave up their portion. 

With this wonderful present, and a letter which stated 
all the riches of the country and all the difficulties of the 
expedition, including the jealousies of Velasquez, and 
which assured the King that Cortes was well able to 
conquer this country for Spain, the general sent home 
his envoys, Monte jo and Puertocarrero, with strict 
orders not to touch at Cuba or any other island on their 
way to Spain. They sailed away under the pilotage 
of Alaminos in the best vessel of the fleet. 

Their sailing suggested to some of those left behind 
that they, too, would like to sail — not to Spain — but 
back to Cuba, where they could tell Velasquez all that 
had been so far accomplished, and bring back more men 
and supplies to attempt the conquest of the country. 
Very secretly a plot to desert Cortes was hatched and 



82 THE BOYS' PRESCOTT 

carried on up to the night of saihng. The vessel had 
been chosen and stocked with food and water; every- 
thing was ready, when one of the conspirators repented 
at the last moment and confessed the scheme. 

Cortes at once arrested the men concerned and called 
a council. Two of the ring-leaders were condemned to 
death by this council and the others were punished. 
The plot was completely crushed. 

But it had shown Cortes a danger ahead. So long 
as the fleet remained, there was always a chance of the 
men becoming discouraged and seizing the vessels to go 
home. He came to a resolution that would be possible 
only to a man of his unfaltering purpose and dauntless 
courage. He made up his mind to destroy the fleet, 
and told his plan to a few of his generals. 

The captains of the vessels were easily induced to 
give in the report that Cortes called for. They said 
the ships were so racked by gales and so worm-eaten as 
to be worthless. Cortes immediately ordered that the 
cordage, sails and iron be saved and that the vessels 
should be sunk. Nine ships were destroyed before the 
army knew what was happening. 

The news that out of all the fleet only one vessel re- 
mained reached the soldiers like a thunder-clap. Even 
brave men shivered at the thought of their small army 
left in a huge, warlike empire, from which there was now 
no escape. Astonishment turned to reproaches, which 
grew into mutiny. "Our general has led us out like 
cattle," they cried, *'to be butchered in the shambles." 

Cortes faced them steadily. "If I have ordered the 
ships to be destroyed," he said, "you should consider 
that mine is the greatest sacrifice, for they are my prop- 
erty — all, indeed, I possess in the world. You, on the 




"With one accord the arms went up and the cries rang out, 
'To Mexico ! To Mexico !' ''—Page 83 



CORTES SINKS HIS SHIPS 83 

other hand, will derive one great advantage from it, by 
the addition of a hundred able-bodied recruits, before 
required to man the vessels. But even if the fleet had 
been saved, it would have been of little service in our 
present expedition; since we will not need it if we suc- 
ceed, while we would be too far in the interior to profit 
by it if we fail. To be thus calculating chances and 
means of escape is unworthy of brave souls. We have 
set our hands to the work ; to look back, as we advance, 
will be our ruin. You have only to resume your former 
confidence in yourselves and your general and success 
is certain. As for me, I have chosen my part. I will 
remain here, while there is one to bear me company. 
If there be any so craven, as to shrink from sharing the 
dangers of our glorious enterprise, let them go home, 
in God's name. There is still one vessel left. Let 
them take that and return to Cuba. They can tell 
there how they have deserted their commander and 
their comrades, and patiently wait till we return loaded 
with the spoils of the Aztecs." 

As usual, Cortes succeeded. When he finished there 
was not a man in the throng that had a thought of home. 
His eloquence was of the kind to stir men's hearts. 
They grew ashamed of their cowardice and saw again 
ahead of them the vision of adventure and glory and 
riches. Once more they became Crusaders, carrying 
the cross forward through every hazard under a leader 
who could not fail. With one accord the arms went 
up and the cries rang out, "To Mexico! To Mexico!" 



CHAPTER X 

CORTES ENTERS TLASCALA 

1519 

MONTE JO and Puertocarrero had set sail from 
Villa Rica on July 26th with Cortes' letter to 
the King and the present of gold. Cortes had 
told them on no account to touch at Cuba, but the first 
thing they did was to anchor off that island. A sailor 
escaped from the vessel and crossed to St. Jago, spread- 
ing everywhere the story of Cortes' achievements. Of 
course the news came finally to the ears of Velasquez. 
This runaway sailor did Cortes more harm than he could 
laiow. 

Velasquez had heard nothing of the expedition since 
it had sailed, and these tidings that reached him of 
riches beyond belief were quite spoiled for his ears by 
the news of Cortes' new commission and of his appeal 
to the King. If those things held, they cut Velasquez 
out entirely from his share of the venture. 

At once he sent two fast-sailing ships after Puerto- 
carrero and Monte jo, but they were by that time well 
across the Atlantic. Velasquez, after a vain appeal to 
the commission in St. Domingo which had sanctioned 
Cortes' venture, and another to Charles V, determined 
to waste no more time, but to fit out another squadron 
to supersede Cortes. 

But to make ready such an expedition was the work 
of months, and in the meantime Cortes' vessel had 

84 



CORTES ENTERS TLASCALA 85 

crossed the sea and, early in October, 1519, had reached 
Spain. When Ferdinand and Isabella had taken pos- 
session of the land Columbus had discovered, they had 
appointed two tribunals to have charge of the new 
colonies. One was called "The Royal Council of the 
Indies," and the other, "The Royal India House." 

Unfortunately one of the present officers of "The 
Royal India House" was a fast friend of Velasquez. 
As soon as he heard the errand of Monte jo and Puerto- 
carrero, he accused them to "The India House" of 
treason and rebellion, seized their vessel, sent the King's 
treasure to him, and confiscated all the rest of the gold, 
even the private property of the envoys and a sum that 
Cortes had sent his father. 

With such a poor reception, there was nothing left 
for the two envoys but to find the King. He was in 
the north of Spain, visiting his mother before he sailed 
for Germany. Cortes' father, with Monte jo and 
Puertocarrero, went to Tordesillas to lay their com- 
plaints before him and present Cortes' letter. Charles 
had just received the Mexican treasure when they ar- 
rived. 

The gold and cotton and feather-work were proof to 
the King of the importance of Cortes' work. He would 
at once have sent to Cortes the royal approval his letter 
asked for, except that another enemy to Cortes inter- 
fered. He was Juan de Fonseca, Bishop of Burgos 
and President of the second Colonial Tribune, "The 
Royal Council of the Indies." A relative of his was to 
marry Velasquez, and he was ready to uphold Velas- 
quez in anything. 

On account of Fonseca, therefore, Charles delayed 
his answer and finally, not knowing how to settle the 



86 THE BOYS' PRESCOTT 

quarrel, went in May to Germany without doing any- 
thing more definite for the envoys than ordering they 
should be given the expenses of their voyage. Thus he 
left his explorers unrewarded and his colonies to settle 
their own quarrels. 

Meanwhile, back in Anahuac, things were happen- 
ing. After he had destroyed the ships, Cortes, leaving 
Escalante in charge of Villa Kica, went back to Cem- 
poalla. Here he received word from Escalante that 
there were off the coast four strange ships who would 
not answer his signals. In much alarm lest this should 
already be Velasquez' colonizing expedition, Cortes, 
leaving Alvarado and Sandoval in charge of the army 
at Cempoalla, posted back to Villa Rica to look after 
the new fleet. 

When he reached Villa Rica, Escalante tried to per- 
suade him to rest before he went to find the strange 
ships, but Cortes answered, "A wounded hare takes no 
nap," and went on with his men ten miles farther up the 
coast. 

Before he found the ships he ran into three Span- 
iards who had come ashore from one of them. Very 
eagerly Cortes questioned them, and found out to his 
comfort that, instead of coming from Velasquez, they 
were part of a squadron fitted out by the Governor of 
Jamaica, who had received permission from Spain to 
settle in any country along the Florida coast. He had 
heard of Cortes' presence in this region, and had sent 
ashore these three men to warn Cortes not to interfere 
with his rights. 

Cortes persuaded the three men to join his expedi- 
tion, and then went to work to see if he could not add to 
his forces more men from the fleet. But the ships at 



CORTES ENTERS TLASCALA 87 

anchor in the harbor would not pay any more atten- 
tion to Cortes' signals than they had paid to Escalante's, 
nor would they send a boat ashore. So Cortes tried 
stratagem. 

He marched his men away from the shore, out of sight 
of the ships, and made the newcomers change dress with 
three of his men. After dark he came back to the beach 
with his whole force. Before dawn he hid behind the 
bushes every one except his three men whom he had 
dressed in the strangers' clothes. These, when it was 
light enough, signaled to the ships to send for them. 
The sailors on the ships, believing the men to be their 
comrades, put off a boat filled with armed men and, 
when it reached the beach, three or four men leaped out. 
Then Cortes sprang out from his ambush. He seized 
the men on shore, but the boat, taking alarm, pushed 
off back to the ship, and the fleet got under way. Cor- 
tes was disappointed not to add more to his numbers, 
but even six armed Spaniards were not to be despised 
as recruits. Cortes went back to join his army at Cem- 
poalla, ready at last to begin his march toward Mexico. 

His army of invasion counted four hundred foot, fif- 
teen horse and seven pieces of artillery, besides thirteen 
hundred Totonac warriors and a thousand porters. He 
took also forty chiefs, who were to act as guides and 
counselors, as well as serve as hostages for the faith of 
the Cempoallans. 

Escalante, chosen for his ability to keep peace with 
the Indians and to hold Cortes' authority against any 
Spaniards who might arrive in Cortes' absence, was 
left with the remaining men in Villa Rica. 

Before the troops started, Cortes addressed them. 
"We are embarking at last," he said, "in earnest on the 



88 THE BOYS' PRESCOTT 

enterprise which has been the great object of my desires. 
Our blessed Savior will carry us victorious through 
every battle with our enemies. Indeed this assurance 
must be our stay, for every other refuge is now cut off 
but that afforded by the providence of God and your 
own stout hearts." 

"We are ready to obey you," cried his soldiers. "Our 
fortunes, for better or worse, are cast with yours." 

On August 16, 1519, Cortes and his crusaders, high 
in courage and hope, set out for Cempoalla. During 
the first day's march they were still in the tropical tierra 
caliente among the birds and flowers and butterflies. 
Then they began to climb the Cordilleras, and on the 
second night reached Xalapa, about half-way up the 
slope. Before them the mountains rose abruptly. On 
their right stood the Sierra Madre, green with pines, 
and on their left was the Orizaba, white with snow. Be- 
hind them lay the luxuriant tierra caliente through 
which they had come, and beyond it, the faint line of 
the ocean. 

From this beautiful spot they pressed up to barer 
and colder heights. On the fourth day they reached a 
friendly town where they were allowed to erect a cross, 
while the natives listened to a sermon from Father Ol- 
medo. Then up they went, higher and higher among 
the mountains, till they came to the places of cold wind 
and rain, snow and hail, which soaked and chilled them. 
The Spaniards were glad of their armor of quilted cot- 
ton as protection against the cold. 

After three days of this discomfort, the army marched 
through a pass into a more temperate climate, and away 
up seven thousand feet above sea level came upon a 
city larger than Cempoalla. It had thirteen temples, 



CORTES ENTERS TLASCxlLA 89 

and a room that held, according to one of the Spaniards, 
a hundred thousand skulls of those who had been sac- 
rificed. 

The cacique of this town, a vassal of Montezuma, 
was not very cordial to Cortes. 

"Do you pay tribute to Montezuma?" Cortes asked. 

"Who is there that is not a vassal to Montezuma?" 
the cacique answered haughtily. 

"I am not," Cortes replied with emphasis, and told 
all the power and glory of his King, Charles V. 

The cacique, not to be outdone, boasted about Monte- 
zuma's greatness. "The Aztec Emperor can muster 
thirty thousand vassals, each master of a hundred thou- 
sand men," he said. "His army is always in the field 
and is so successful that he sacrifices each year to his 
gods twenty thousand victims. His capital, Tenoch- 
titlan, is built in a lake in a huge valley on top of the 
mountains, and the only approach to the city is over long 
causeways from the mainland. The causeways through 
the city are cut by canals whose bridges can be raised, 
thus cutting off all communication from outside. The 
lake itself is full of Aztec canoes." 

This did not sound very encouraging to the Span- 
iards, but "being Spaniards," writes the historian of the 
expedition, "however much the stories filled them with 
wonder, they made them only the more earnest to prove 
the adventure, desperate as it might appear." 

The cacique refused to give Cortes any gold until 
Marina told him of the presents Montezuma had sent. 
Then he gave them some small pieces, and what was 
more important, he provided them with food and shelter. 

Cortes, as soon as he was warmed and fed, set Father 
Olmedo preaching. Cortes would have liked to con- 



90 THE BOYS' PRESCOTT 

vert the natives by force as he did at Cempoalla, but the 
gentle priest convinced him that although that method 
had succeeded in the lowlands, it would probably rouse 
great opposition from these mountaineers. The gen- 
eral left the natives to their own beliefs, therefore, and 
after two or three days of rest he was ready to start his 
army on again. 

There were two paths to Mexico; one by Cholula, 
and one by Tlascala. The cacique advised Cortes to 
take the route through the old city of Cholula, whose 
inhabitants, vassals of Montezuma, the cacique said, 
were mild and peaceful and would welcome the Span- 
iards. But the Cholulans were enemies of the Toto- 
nacs, and the Totonac chiefs advised Cortes not to trust 
them, as they were "a false and perfidious people." 
They counseled Cortes to choose the other route by 
Tlascala, whose people, friends of the Totonacs, were 
free and frank and valiant and had, behind their strong 
wall, withstood the Aztecs for years. 

Cortes started out, not certain which route he should 
take when he reached the dividing roads. His way at 
first lay along a green, wooded valley, with a river flow- 
ing through it, and Indian houses built along its banks. 
A little way on, the Spaniards came to another town 
disposed to be friendly, and Cortes halted his troops. 

Here he decided to choose the Tlascalan path to 
Mexico, probably thinking he could make better cause 
with Montezuma's foes than with his friends. He 
selected four of the Cempoallan chiefs who were with 
him, whom he sent as an embassy to Tlascala, with a 
letter asking permission to pass through the Tlascalan 
republic and expressing great admiration of their long 
resistance to the Aztecs, whom he was marching to sub- 



CORTES ENTERS TLASCALA 91 

due. Marina taught the chiefs the contents of the let- 
ter by heart, and the envoys set off on their errand, car- 
rying with them as gifts a crimson cloth cap, a sword 
and a cross-bow. 

After the messengers had gone, Cortes stayed on in 
the Indian village for three days before he set out again 
on his route, taking with him three hundred Indian re- 
cruits, which brought the number of his allies up to 
almost three thousand. He marched cautiously, ready 
any moment for attack; the horse and light troops in 
front; the heavy-armed and baggage last, all in battle 
array. They slept on their arms. 

"We are few against many, brave companions," Cor- 
tes would say to them; "be prepared, then, not as if you 
were going to battle, but as if actually in the midst 
of it." 

As they proceeded, expecting each day to meet the 
envoys who did not appear, Cortes began to feel uneasy. 
On they went, however, fording the stream more than 
once, the country growing rougher and wilder as they 
climbed unfalteringly upward. And then suddenly — 
they came right against the wall of Tlascala. 

We have heard of that wall which the Tlascalans had 
built, nine feet high, twenty feet broad, and six miles 
long, to shut out the Aztecs from their mountain coun- 
try. It made the Spaniards realize the strength and 
power of the people who raised it, and made them, too, 
less sure of their own welcome. What had become of 
the Cempoallan envoys? 

Though there was no one to greet them, neither was 
there any one to oppose them; the entrance was quite 
undefended. 

Cortes did not hesitate. 



92 THE BOYS' PRESCOTT 

"Forward, soldiers!" he cried. *'The holy cross is 
our banner and under that we shall conquer." 

"He led his little army through the undefended pas- 
sage, and in a few moments they trod the soil of the 
free republic of Tlascala." (Prescott's "Conquest of 
Mexico.") 



CHAPTER XI 

THE BATTLE OF THE PASS 

1519 

THE Cempoallan envoys had reached in safety 
the city of Tlascala, the capital of the repubhc 
of Tlascala, and had delivered their message to 
the four chiefs who were the heads of the government. 
They at once called together the heads of the great 
council to decide on an answer. ■ 

One of the four chiefs, Maxixca, maintained that the 
white conqueror was Quetzalcoatl returned, and they 
must bow to him. Others said that any one who was 
an enemy to Montezuma was a friend to Tlascala. But 
there were still others, among them the aged chief 
Xicotencatl, also one of the four heads, who said that 
they never could be friends with men who, wherever 
they went, left broken idols and desecrated temples be- 
hind them. Besides, what proof was there that Cortes 
was the foe of the Aztecs when, after receiving Monte- 
zuma's presents, he was marching with Montezuma's 
vassals to Tenochtitlan? Xicotencatl was for sending 
word to his son, Xicotencatl the younger, to fall on the 
Spaniards with the army he was commanding on the 
eastern frontier, and destroy them. If he should defeat 
the Spaniards, all was well; if he should be defeated, 
the Tlascalans would say they knew nothing of the at- 
tack and could then receive the Spaniards. In the 

93 



94 THE BOYS' PRESCOTT 

meantime they would induce the envoys to stay on a 
pretext of some rehgious ceremony. 

This was what was going on when Cortes, not know- 
ing the reception prepared for him, and finding no one 
guarding the entrance, dashed through the opening of 
the great wall and entered the Tlascala republic. At 
once he set out for the capital. His cavalry rode on 
for some miles undisturbed, the infantry following 
close behind, until Cortes saw a small body of Indians 
armed with shield and sword. He signaled them to 
stop, but they fled instead. When the cavalrj^, spur- 
ring after them, overtook them, instead of showing the 
usual terror at the strange horses, the Indians turned 
on them furiouslj^, and held their ground till a large 
body of natives came to their aid. 

Cortes sent back a messenger to the infantry to ad- 
vance as quickly as possible, and set himself to with- 
standing the attack of the enemj^ It was all he could 
do to keep them off. After discharging their arrows, 
the savages closed with the Spaniards, killing one man 
and two horses before the infantry came up. 

The Spaniards formed at once, and poured in such a 
close volley from musket and crossbow that the Indians, 
who had never heard before the report of fire-arms, fell 
back. They withdrew, however, in good order. 

Cortes did not pursue; he was satisfied to have his 
road to the city of Tlascala left open for him. Before 
he went on, he buried the dead horses, lest the Indians 
should discover that they were merely mortal beasts and 
not something magic. Then he resumed his march. 

A little further on they met two of the Cempoallan 
envoys along with two Tlascalans who, according to the 
chiefs' plan, apologized to Cortes for the unsuccessful 



THE BATTLE OF THE PASS 95 

attack, and assured him that the Tlascalan government 
knew nothing of it. Whether Cortes beheved it or not, 
he answered courteously, and was allowed to go on. 

He pitched camp on the bank of a stream among a 
few deserted cottages. There was not much to eat, 
but the soldiers made a supper and went to sleep. Cor- 
tes kept on guard a hundred men at a time all through 
the night. But no attack was made. Although Cor- 
tes did not know it yet, the Indians never attacked at 
night. 

The next day, September 2, 1519, the troops were 
under arms by dawn — three thousand Indians, four 
hundred Spanish infantry and fourteen horse. Father 
Ohnedo said mass, and then the march began, the 
troops, by the general's order, keeping very close to- 
gether, so that no stragglers should be cut off. The 
horsemen rode three abreast. Their orders were to 
hold their lances so that the Indians could not snatch 
them, to keep together and never to attack singly. 

They had gone only a little way before they met the 
other two Cempoallan envoys frightened ahnost to 
death. They had just escaped from the prison where 
the Tlascalans were fattening them for sacrifice. They 
said that a large body of Tlascalans was gathered to 
oppose the Spanish progress. Cortes saw that the 
pohte apolog}^ had not been worth much. 

There was nothing for it but to push ahead until the}^ 
came in sight of the enemy, a body of a thousand in 
battle array. Cortes stopped long enough to explain 
that he had no hostile intention; all he wanted was a 
peaceful passage through the country. The Tlascalans' 
answer was a flight of stones and arrows. 

The missiles struck the Spaniards into sudden anger 



96 THE BOYS' PRESCOTT 

and with their war cry, "St. Jago and at them!" they 
charged the foe. 

The Tlascalans held their ground for a while and 
then suddenly gave way. The Spaniards pursued, not 
perceiving, until they were well entrapped, that they 
were being led into a narrow pass where both the horse 
and the guns were almost useless. When they saw 
what had happened, they hurried forward to get again 
on level ground, and turning a sharp angle of the cliffs, 
they saw spread out before them, filHng the space in 
the cut and stretching far into the plain beyond, an 
army numbering tens of thousands. 

As the Spaniards appeared, the Tlascalans set up 
their hideous war cry and beat upon their melancholy 
drums. Then, Hke an ocean, they came rolling for- 
ward. 

The Spaniards, however, kept close together and 
stood the shock. The ocean of Indians rolled up, 
broke, retreated, rolled up again and swayed back, only 
to gather force for another assault. How long could 
three thousand men withstand thirty thousand? 

Finally the Tlascalans succeeded in pulling a Span- 
iard from his horse and in killing the horse. The 
Spaniards, knowing the horrible fate that would come 
to their comrade if he were taken alive, rallied to rescue 
him. Ten were wounded before they finally snatched 
him from his captors and the man himself died soon 
after. 

"I see nothing but death for us," one of the Cempo- 
allan chiefs said to Marina; "we shall never get through 
this pass alive." 

"The God of the Christians is with us," Marina an- 
swered, "and He will carry us safely through." 



THE BATTLE OF THE PASS 97 

Then amid the din of battle came the voice of Cortes, 
"If we fail now the cross of Christ can never be planted 
in the land. Forward, comrades! When was it ever 
known that a Spaniard turned his back on a foe?" 

Roused to new effort, the white men attacked again. 
Borne down by the riders and trampled by the horses' 
hoofs, the enemy began to give ground. Cortes' In- 
dian allies did their part bravely. Finally the troops 
succeeded in forcing a passage through the pass and 
came out on the plain bej^^ond, where the horse soon 
opened a way for the artillery. The Tlascalans were 
in such close rank that, once the cannon got into action, 
they mowed them down by hundreds. 

After eight of his principal chiefs had fallen, the 
young Xicotencatl, finding himself unable to hold out 
against the Spanish fire, ordered a retreat. The Tlas- 
calans drew off in good order about sunset, and Cortes 
was well content to let them go. 

He at once moved forward to the top of a hill and 
made camp. The Spaniards fared better than they 
had the night before, for the cottages on the hill had 
plenty of food. After the wounded men and horses 
were cared for, the troops celebrated their victory in a 
feast. They had come off with the loss of the one horse 
and very few men. The horse that the Indians had 
killed they cut in pieces and sent through the country 
to show that it was mortal and not supernatural. Thus 
the very thing happened that Cortes had tried to pre- 
vent. 

Although Cortes encouraged his men in their singing 
and feasting, he himself had sober thoughts. To-day's 
battle was the severest he had had in Anahuac, and he 
knew well that he had not gained a lasting victory. 



98 THE BOYS' PRESCOTT 

To-morrow the Indians, refreshed and recruited, would 
be ready for another attack, and all the work would 
have to be done over again. It was a dark outlook. 

As the songs died away and the men slept, Cortes 
still sat gazing into the future and thinking how far 
he would be on his way to conquer Mexico if, instead 
of having the Tlascalans for his enemies, he could gain 
them as alhes. 



CHAPTER XII 

THE DEFEAT OF XICOTENCATL 
1519 

ALL the next day the Spaniards stayed in camp, 
resting and getting into shape their armor and 
fighting apparatus. On the second day, how- 
ever, as Cortes heard nothing of the enemy, he deter- 
mined to send as envoys to Xicotencatl two of the 
Tlascalan chiefs he had captured in the late battle. 

While they were gone, thinking his men had been idle 
long enough, he put himself at their head to explore 
and forage the country. If the people welcomed him, 
he treated them gently; if they were hostile, he burned 
their villages and took the inhabitants captive. The 
Spaniards came back to camp finally with several hun- 
dred captives and plenty of provisions. 

On his arrival, Cortes found his two envoys had re- 
turned. They had come upon Xicotencatl encamped 
with an immense force about six miles beyond them; 
he had returned to the message this answer : 

"The Spaniards may pass on as soon as they choose 
to the city of Tlascala; and when they reach it, their 
flesh will be hewn from their bodies, for sacrifice to the 
gods! If they prefer to remain in their own quarters, 
I will pay them a visit there the next day." 

This ultimatum had behind it the authority of the 
great council, who were resolved to risk their fortunes 
in a pitched battle. 

99 



100 THE BOYS' PRESCOTT 

Although Cortes had hoped for a more peaceful re- 
ply, he was not daunted. His men shared his courage. 
They knew by the battle in the pass what fierceness and 
strength they had to encounter, and they knew what 
horror awaited any one taken captive. But firm in 
their crusaders' faith in the cross, they confessed and 
heard mass, and then lay down quietly to rest, confi- 
dent that God would protect them in the coming dan- 
ger. Father Olmedo spent the whole night in grant- 
ing absolution and administering the ofiices of the 
church. 

Cortes never believed in sitting still to wait for dan- 
ger. If it were near, he went to meet it, knowing that 
strength is more often with the attacking party than 
with the attacked. 

The 5th of September was a clear, bright day. 
Cortes reviewed his army, gave them advice and en- 
couragement, and in close and vmbroken ranks led them 
out of camp against the foe. 

They had gone scarcely a mile when they came upon 
Xicotencatl's army spread six miles square before 
them, with the sun glinting on the soldiers' spear-tips 
of copper and obsidian and on the shields and helmets 
of the chiefs, while the wind tossed their gay plumes 
and hfted the banners that thronged the field. Xico- 
tencatl's ensign was there — a white heron on a rock — 
and the golden eagle with outspread wings which was 
the standard of the republic of Tlascala. 

All the great chiefs of the republic were armed to 
oppose Cortes. Besides their shields and helmets, they 
had arrow-proof cotton tunics quilted two inches thick 
to protect the thighs and shoulders. Over this they 
wore brilliant cloaks of feather work. Leather boots 



THE DEFEAT OF XICOTENCATL 101 

ornamented with gold covered their legs. Their hel- 
mets, made of wood and leather and ornamented with 
gold and precious stones, were in the shape of animals' 
heads with ferocious, grinning teeth. From the top of 
each helmet floated a gorgeous plume made from the 
feathers of the gay-colored tropical birds, its shape and 
color showing the family of the chief. Feather work 
also fringed their shields, which were made sometimes 
of wood covered with leather and sometimes of closely 
woven wicker work. 

The common soldier had no armor; his naked body 
was painted in the colors of the chief under whom he 
served, so one could tell his tribe at a glance, as one 
can tell a Highlander's clan by his tartan. The sol- 
diers' weapons were slings, bows and arrows, javehns, 
and thick clubs set with sharp knives of obsidian. 
Their arrows were tipped with obsidian and copper 
and they could shoot them three at a time. With the 
javelin, too, they had special skill. It had sometimes 
fastened to it a leather strap which could draw the 
victim as well as the javehn back to the soldier who 
threw it. 

It was such a field of brandished, gleaming spears 
and tossing plumes and banners that met the eyes of 
the Spaniards. At the same moment the frightful war 
cry rose so loud that it quite drowned the barbaric music 
that the savages were playing in anticipation of vic- 
tory. Then the immense body of men shot such a 
forest of arrows that, as they passed, they darkened the 
sun like a cloud. 

Cortes' men held their fire until they were near 
enough to have it effective. Then, drawn out in hastily 
formed lines, the Spaniards poured in their bullets, 



102 THE BOYS' PRESCOTT 

which mowed through the . unprotected ranks of the 
savages as a scythe cuts through a field of grain. For 
a moment the Indians were horror-struck, but, recover- 
ing, with their fiercest war cry they poured down on 
the white men hke an irresistible avalanche. 

No mortal power could withstand that rush. The 
Spaniards' close order was broken, their lines were 
twisted, thrown into confusion and pushed back. 
Cortes called on them to close up and reform, but his 
voice was swallowed up in the clamor of the Indians. 
For a moment it looked as if the Christians' cause was 
lost. 

But though the Spaniards could not hear their gen- 
eral's voice, they responded to his courage. The in- 
fantry finally stemmed the torrent of dark, rushing 
bodies, the guns got into action, Cortes and his horses 
charged again, and victory suddenly wheeled over to 
the banners of the Christians. In complete disorder 
once more the Indians fell back. 

The Tlascalans formed to charge again and again, 
but each time with less energy. As they lost spirit, the 
very greatness of their numbers hampered them. Only 
those in front could fight ; the vast number, pressing in 
the rear, added confusion and tumult and panic. 
While things were at their worst for the Tlascalans, a 
quarrel arose between Xicotencatl and a chief jealous 
of his power. The cacique drew all his men out of the 
battle; another chief followed, and another, until Xico- 
tencatl was left with only half of his original force. 
Thus deserted, he drew off his remaining men and 
ended the battle. The Spaniards, too exhausted to 
follow, returned to their camp on the hill, grateful even 
in the face of discomfort and anxiety. They had es- 



THE DEFEAT OF XICOTENCATL 103 

caped with little real loss from an encounter in which 
their enemies had outnmnbered them fifteen to one, 
proving that skill and science in a few could overcome 
mere physical force and the weight of numbers. 

The great council of Tlascala heard with dismay of 
Xicotencatl's defeat. They scarcely knew what to do 
next or what word to send to Cortes by the envoys. 
They did not want to grant him free passage through 
the countr)^ and they did not care to declare themselves 
his open enemy. In their uncertainty they called on 
their priests for advice. 

The priests, like many other oracles, gave rather 
vague counsel. They said that the Spaniards, though 
not gods, were children of the sun, and that the sun 
blessed them. The Tlascalans could not prevail against 
them while the sun shone. 

The younger Xicotencatl, his courage hot as ever, 
was burning once more to be at Cortes. He seized 
eagerly on the priests' oracle and interpreted it as 
meaning that a night attack on the white man would 
be successful. This was quite contrary to the usual In- 
dian custom, but finally the council gave its doubtful 
permission to the plan, and set Xicotencatl at the head 
of ten thousand warriors. 

The night chosen was a night of full moon. The 
sentinel whom Cortes had appointed was walking his 
rounds in the Spanish camp, looking off from his hill- 
top across the maize fields which surrounded the camp. 
Through the hues of corn he saw something dark and 
shadowy moving. 

Silently and quickly he alarmed the garrison, and as 
quickly and silently the troops sprang to arms, for they 
slept with their weapons beside them, and the horses 



104 THE BOYS' PRESCOTT 

were always saddled with the bridle hanging on the 
saddle bow. 

Cortes as usual determined to attack before he was 
attacked and drew up his men ready for a sally when 
the enemy had reached the bottom of the hill on which 
the camp stood. 

Stealthily the Indians crept up through the corn field 
toward the quiet camp. As soon as they began to climb 
the slope of the hill out rang the Spanish battle-cry, 
"St. Jago and at them," and down the slope poured the 
whole Spanish army. In the moonlight they looked to 
the Tlascalans like ogres and ghosts coming down upon 
them, and, without waiting to cross weapons, the In- 
dians turned and fled. The Spaniards, pursuing, cut 
the foe to pieces. 

The next day Cortes sent a new embassy to the coun- 
cil, taking advantage of their discomfiture over the new 
defeat. Marina instructed the Tlascalan envoys very 
carefully in their message. It was the same as before 
— a request to march peaceably through the Tlascalan 
country and a promise of friendsliip if they were undis- 
tm'bed. But this time Cortes added the stern threat 
that if Tlascala went on acting as an enemy instead of 
a friend, he would destroy its cities and kill all its in- 
habitants. He sent the envoys away with a letter in 
one hand and an arrow in the other. Tlascala must 
choose peace or war. 

When the embassy reached the capital and gave its 
message to the great council, Tlascala was quite ready 
for peace. Its armies had been defeated in the 
open field and in its secret maneuvers. There was 
nothing more to do against a general who had never 
been beaten. The council sent back word to Cortes 



THE DEFEAT OF XICOTENCATL 105 

that he might freely march through the country, for the 
Tlascalans were his friends. The envoys on their way 
back to Cortes were to stop at Xicotencatl's camp to 
tell him that, as peace was made, he must now disband 
his army and must supply the white men with pro- 
visions. 

The envoys went to Xicotencatl's camp and gave him 
the message. He scorned it. He was too brave to 
fear the Spaniards and too loyal to his country to wish 
to be friends with strangers. Cortes had beaten him 
so far, but he would not give in without another at- 
tempt. Neither would he feed the white men. He 
coaxed the envoys to stay with him instead of taking to 
Cortes the council's message. 

While Cortes was waiting for his envoys to come 
back, as usual he kept his men in motion. He was him- 
self so ill that he could scarcely sit his horse, but that 
did not keep him from exploring at the head of his 
troops the rough coimtry around his camp, although 
the air on this mountain top was cold and piercing. 
The men grumbled and some of the horses gave out. 
He sent those back to camp, but would not go home 
himself. 

"We fight under the banner of the cross," he said. 
"God is stronger than nature." 

Not Richard the Lion Hearted, leading his crusade 
to the Holy Land, was more sure he was fighting for 
God than was Cortes in Mexico. 

Cortes carried back provisions, leaving behind him 
burned villages where the Indians had resisted him, and 
kindness where they had helped him. When he came 
back to camp, instead of rest he found new troubles. 
Some of the men, friends of Velasquez, remembering 



106 THE BOYS' PRESCOTT 

the safety and comfort of Cuba, tired of hardships and 
stirred by a few loud talkers, came to him demanding 
to be taken back to Villa Rica. 

"Our sufferings," they said, "are too great to be en- 
dured. All have received one, most of us two or three 
wounds. More than fifty have perished in one way or 
another since leaving Vera Cruz. There is no beast 
of burden but leads a life preferable to ours. When 
the night comes, the former can rest from his labors; 
but we, fighting or watching, have no rest, day nor 
night. As to conquering Mexico, the very thought of 
it is madness. If we have encountered such opposition 
from the petty republic of Tlascala, what may we not 
expect from the great Mexican empire? There is now 
a temporary suspension of hostilities. We should avail 
ourselves of it, to retrace our steps to Vera Cruz. It 
is true, the fieet there is destroyed; and by this act, un- 
paralleled for rashness even in Roman annals, you have 
become responsible for the fate of the whole army. 
Still there is one vessel left. That could be despatched 
to Cuba for reenforcements and supplies; and when 
these arrive, we shall be enabled to resume operations 
with some prospect of success." 

Cortes showed no disapproval or reproach at this 
speech. He listened to it and then frankly answered 
them. 

"There is much truth in what you say," he replied. 
"The sufferings of the Spaniards have been great; 
greater than those recorded of any heroes in Greek or 
Roman story. So much the greater will be their glory. 
I have often been filled with admiration as I have seen 
my little host encircled by myriads of barbarians, and 



THE DEFEAT OF XICOTENCATL 107 

have felt that no people but Spaniards could have tri- 
umphed over such formidable odds. Nor could we, un- 
less the arm of the Almighty had been over us. And 
we may reasonably look for His protection hereafter; 
for is it not in His cause we are fighting? We have 
encountered dangers and difficulties, it is true. But 
we did not come here expecting a life of idle dalliance 
and pleasure. Glory, as I told you at the outset, is to 
be won only by toil and danger. You should do me 
the justice to acknowledge that I have never shrunk 
from my share of both. If we have met with hardships, 
we have been everywhere victorious. Even now we are 
enjojang the fruits of this in the plenty which reigns 
in the camp. We shall soon see the Tlascalans, hum- 
bled by their late reverses, suing for peace on any 
terms. To go back now is impossible; the very stones 
would rise up against us ; the Tlascalans would hunt us 
in triumph down to the water's edge. And how would 
the Mexicans exult at this miserable issue of our vain- 
glorious vaunts! Our former friends would become 
our enemies; and the Totonacs, to avert the vengeance 
of the Aztecs, from which the Spaniards could no longer 
shield them, would join in the general cry. There is no 
alternative, then, but to go forward in our career. 
Silence your pusillanimous scruples! Instead of turn- 
ing your eyes toward Cuba, fix them on Mexico, the 
great object of our enterprise." 

The soldiers listened, but the cowardly ones still 
grumbled, till Cortes cut in with an old proverb, "It 
is better to die with honor than to live disgraced." The 
braver ones applauded this and their general. They 
declared they were ready to follow him anywhere he 



108 THE BOYS' PRESCOTT 

led. So, finding they had no support, the discontented 
soldiers slunk back to their quarters, grumbling at 
Cortes and Xicotencatl and their own companions. 

Cortes let them go and sat down with his own 
thoughts for a while. There was enough to discourage 
any but a brave man; illness for himself; a hard cli- 
mate; half-hearted followers; scarcity of provisions; 
uncertainty as to how the King of Spain would regard 
his conduct; a fierce foe around him, and Mexico still 
far away. But Cortes accepted it all with his head held 
high. He had come to conquer Mexico, and only as 
the conqueror of Mexico would he go home. 

The next day a body of Tlascalans, under flags of 
truce, came to camp, bringing provisions and some 
small presents. They said Xicotencatl sent the gifts 
as a proof that he was tired of war and that he would 
soon come himself to arrange peace. 

Every one but Marina greeted these messengers with 
joy. She suspected them and, after watching them, 
told Cortes she was sure they were spies. Cortes at 
once had them examined one by one, and found out that 
Xicotencatl had sent them to keep the Christians un- 
suspicious and to find out about their camp, while he 
raised another army of attack. 

Cortes, indignant at this act of treachery on the part 
of Xicotencatl, determined to make an example of the 
spies. He cut off their hands and sent them back to 
Xicotencatl with the message, "The Tlascalans may 
come by day or by night, but they will find the Span- 
iards ready for them." 

Mr. Prescott says of this act of Cortes, "The punish- 
ment inflicted by Cortes may well shock the reader by 
its brutality. A higher civilization rejects such pun- 



THE DEFEAT OF XICOTENCATL 109 

ishments as degrading to humanity." We must again, 
therefore, judge Cortes by sixteenth century standards 
and not by those of the twentieth, when mankind would 
indeed rise in indignation against such barbarity. 

The return of the mutilated spies convinced Xico- 
tencatl that it was useless to stand against the white 
men longer. His soldiers refused to fight against an 
enemy who could understand tlieir plans before they 
were worked out. Xicotencatl sent on to Cortes the 
four Tlascalan envoys whom he had stopped on their 
way from the great council, and soon after appeared 
himself with a large body of followers painted in his 
livery of white and yellow. The Spaniards were be- 
side themselves with joy at the sight and Cortes had 
hard work to calm them down to the cool indifference 
it was poKtic to show to the Tlascalans. 

Xicotencatl, attended by an incense bearer, came 
with a firm, fearless step into Cortes' presence. He 
was tall and muscular, and though only thirty-five, he 
had gone through so many hardships that he looked like 
a man of greater age. 

He made no attempt to excuse himself or to throw 
blame on the council. 

"The responsibility of the war is mine alone," he said. 
"I have considered the white men as allies of Mexico 
and enemies of Tlascala, and as such I have faced them. 
Now I am beaten. I come to make friends with the 
Spaniards, and you will find the Tlascalans as faithful 
in peace as they have been fierce in war. We are your 
friends. Respect the liberties of the republic." 

Cortes admired the courage and firmness of Xicoten- 
catl while he rebuked his persistence in hostility. 

"I am willing to forget the past and receive the 



110 THE BOYS' PRESCOTT 

Tlascalans as vassals to my King, Charles V," he said, 
*'so long as you remain true." 

Joy was in his heart as he spoke, for now that the 
Tlascalans were no longer his enemies, there was noth- 
ing to prevent their becoming his allies. 

Xicotencatl ordered his slaves to present the gifts 
they had in their keeping. 

"They are of little value," he said with a smile, "for 
the Tlascalans are poor. We have little gold, no cot- 
ton, no salt. The Aztec Emperor has left us nothing 
but our freedom and our arms. I offer this gift only 
as a token of my good- will." 

"And as such I receive it," answered Cortes, "and, 
coming from the Tlascalans, set more value on it than 
I should from any other source though it were a house 
full of gold." 

Thus peace was made between Tlascala and the 
Spaniards, and it was faithfully kept. But Xicoten- 
catl in his heart loved the white men no better than he 
had before. 



CHAPTER XIII 

THE MASSACRE OF CHOLULA 

1519 

WHILE the Tlascalans were still in the Span- 
ish camp, five Aztec nobles, accompanied by 
two hundred slaves, came as envoys from 
Montezuma to Cortes. The Emperor had watched 
eagerly every step of the white men from Villa Rica, 
up the Cordilleras, and over the broad table-land on 
the mountain's summit. He had rejoiced, with his 
warrior fierceness, when he saw Cortes choose the way 
to Tlascala, for he was sure no human beings could 
cross alive a territory he had been unable to subdue. 
But when tidings came that Cortes had conquered 
Xicotencatl and put Tlascala under his feet, Monte- 
zuma, overwhelmed by his priestly superstition, sure 
once more that the newcomers were gods and not mor- 
tals, went back to his temporizing policy of beckoning 
the Spaniards with one hand by rich gifts while, with 
the other hand, he held them back from his country. 

The new embassy brought to Cortes three thousand 
ounces of gold, hundreds of feather work mantles and 
embroidered cotton dresses, along with Montezuma's 
polite congratulations on the Spaniards' victory and his 
polite regret that he could not receive the general in 
Tenochtitlan. 

Cortes, also, was courteous, but he would not give up 

111 



112 THE BOYS* PRESCOTT 

his thought of visiting Montezuma. The envoys then 
went a step further and offered to pay tribute to the 
King of Spain if Cortes would give up his visit to 
Mexico. 

Elated by the thought that he could inspire terror in 
a monarch whom every nation in Anahuac regarded 
with awe, Cortes was more than ever resolved to press 
on to the capital. 

"I should offend my own king," he said, "if I should 
return to Spain without visiting so powerful a monarch 
as Montezuma." 

Two of the envoys went back to Tenochtitlan with 
Cortes' message; the others Cortes kept with him in 
camp that they might see how high he stood with the 
Tlascalans. He had had an urgent invitation to take 
up his quarters in the city of Tlascala, but until his own 
health was restored and his soldiers rested, Cortes did 
not care to establish himself in the capital of a nation 
who had so lately been his enemies. 

The Tlascalans now, however, were as eager to help 
Cortes as they had been before to hinder him. They 
were more than ready to be his allies in an expedition 
that was to humble in the dust their bitterest foe. 
Finally some of the aged rulers of the republic grew 
so impatient at Cortes' long delay that they arrived at 
the Spanish camp with five hundred porters ready to 
drag the cannon and carry the baggage of the white 
men to the city of Tlascala. 

At that, Cortes saw that he must move his quarters 
into the city. Father Olmedo said mass, camp was 
struck, and Cortes and his army set out to march the 
twenty miles that separated their camp from the cap- 
ital. It was a triumphal procession; all the towns on 



THE MASSACRE OF CHOLULA 113 

the way entertained them, and as they came near the 
capital men and women came out to meet them with 
wreaths and bunches of flowers, which they hung about 
the Spaniards and their horses. Indian priests were 
there, too, in white robes and long, matted hair, burning 
incense as they came. With this escort the Spaniards 
entered the city of Tlascala on the 23d of September, 
1519. 

Once inside, the crowd was so great that the police 
could scarcely make a passage for the strangers. 
Many of the inhabitants went up to their low, flat 
housetops and from there looked down on the streets 
festooned with roses and honeysuckle and arched with 
green boughs. The native bands played and the crowd 
shrieked its welcome in a way that would have terrified 
the Spaniards if Marina had not assured them that it 
all meant peace. 

The old chief, Xicotencatl, father of the warrior 
Xicotencatl, and one of the four rulers of the republic, 
received Cortes at his palace and, as he was nearly 
blind, passed his hand over Cortes' face to discover what 
he looked like. In a large hall in the palace a banquet 
was served, and afterward the Spaniards were assigned 
their quarters in the square of the chief temple. The 
Aztec envoys had rooms next to Cortes so that they 
might be safe. 

For the next days the four rulers of Tlascala gave 
themselves up to entertaining their guests. Each one, 
in his own section of the city, banquetted Cortes and his 
captains. Through all the festivities the general kept 
up the strict discipline of the camp and such a constant 
watchfulness that the Tlascalan officers were almost 
offended. 



114 THE BOYS' PRESCOTT 

To show their desire for a close alliance, the Tlas- 
calans offered some of their women as wives for the 
Spaniards, in the same way that the Cempoallans had 
done. Cortes replied, as he had at Cempoalla, that 
Spaniards could marry only Christians, and urged them 
to worship the true God. But, though they were will- 
ing to worship the white men's God, they refused to 
give up their own. When Cortes would have pressed 
the matter. Father Olmedo once more warned Cortes 
not to stir up in Tlascala the same tempest that he had 
made in Cempoalla, but to leave the Tlascalans in pos- 
session of their own rehgion. Cortes reluctantly fol- 
lowed his advice and contented himself with setting free 
the captives that the Tlascalans were keeping for sacri- 
fice. 

The Tlascalan chiefs allowed the Spaniards to set up 
a cross in their quarters and to celebrate mass. The 
Indians as well as the white men came daily to hear it. 
With this compromise the religious difficulties were set- 
tled, and the Spaniards married the Tlascalan women. 
Alvarado married the daughter of Xicotencatl, a prin- 
cess of high rank, and became a great favorite with the 
Tlascalans. They liked his yellow hair and fair skin 
and called him "Tonatiuh," the Sun. Marina they 
called "Malinche," and as she was always with Cortes 
on public occasions they called him also "Malinche." 
So both Cortes and Alvarado received in Tlascala nick- 
names which stuck to them through all the expedition. 

While the Spaniards were feasting in Tlascala, the 
two Aztec envoys returned. Montezuma this time in- 
vited the Spaniards to come to Tenochtitlan but, at the 
same time, asked them to break with Tlascala, Mexico's 
mortal enemy, and to go to Cholula, which was a vassal 



THE MASSACRE OF CIIOLULA 115 

to Montezmna, where the white men would be properly 
received and entertained. 

The Tlascalans warned Cortes not to trust Monte- 
zuma nor the Cholulans, who, cowards in fight, were in 
peace treacherous and crafty. They said that Cholula, 
but twenty miles distant, was almost the only nation 
who had not sent an embassy to Cortes. They warned 
him, too, against Montezuma's smooth words. 

"Better to march against him as foe than to enter his 
capital as friend," they asserted. "His power is bound- 
less. Once shut up in Tenochtitlan with no communi- 
cation with the coast, you will be at the mercy of the 
Aztecs." 

While Cortes was considering the matter one of the 
Tezcucan princes arrived. Nezahualpilli had left five 
sons. Cacama, the oldest, had been given his father's 
throne by Montezuma. The second son, Ixtlilzochitl, 
had received only a small share of Tezcuco. It was 
Ixthlzochitl, angry at Montezuma and at Cacama, who 
now arrived to offer his services to Cortes and to ask 
help in gaining Tezcuco. Cortes gave him a place 
among his company, but would not promise to put him 
on the throne. 

And then came an embassy from Cholula, full of pro- 
fessions of good-will, and inviting the Spaniards to 
their city. The Tlascalans pointed out that the am- 
bassadors were not nobles, and that in sending men of 
inferior rank, Cholula was insulting Spain. Cortes at 
once informed Cholula that he would listen to no words 
of peace unless they came through Cholula's chief men. 

The Cholulans, not eager to waken Cortes' anger, 
sent a new embassy of nobles, who, after excusing their 
late-coming on the ground that they had been afraid of 



116 THE BOYS' PRESCOTT 

Tlascala, humbly asked Cortes to visit their city. 
Cortes agreed. 

The Tlascalans more than ever tried to persuade him 
not to go to Cholula. They assured him again of the 
falseness of the people and told him that not only was 
the city putting itself into a position of defense, but that 
a large Aztec force was camped near it, and that 
Montezuma was only asking the Spaniards to Cholula 
that he might there trap and kill them. 

The news disturbed Cortes, but he had made up his 
mind to go and nothing could stop him. He knew that 
if he showed any signs of fear, it would at once encour- 
age his enemies at the same time that it discouraged his 
allies and his own men. He consulted with his chief 
officers and decided on an immediate march to Cholula. 

The Spaniards had been six weeks in Tlascala; dur- 
ing the last three, entertained as honored guests in the 
capital city. When the time came for their departure, 
thousands of Tlascalans were ready to march with the 
army brave enough to force Montezuma in his own 
stronghold. Cortes, however, not wishing a body of 
men so large as to prove cumbersome, chose only six 
thousand warriors to accompany him. 

The day came when the Spaniards and their new 
allies, with many God-speeds, set out for Cholula. 
Tradition says that they had scarcely left the city of 
Tlascala when a thin, transparent cloud settled down 
over the cross the Christians had erected in the temple 
courtyard and wrapped the cross in soft folds, which 
shone all through the night with a clear light, thus prov- 
ing to the Indians the truth of the white men's religion. 

It did not take the Spaniards long to cover the dis- 
tance between Tlascala and Cholula. As they ap- 



THE MASSACRE OF CHOLULA 117 

proached the city, the caciques came out to welcome the 
white men, but they refused to receive their enemies, 
the Tlascalans, within their walls. The alHes, there- 
fore, after many warnings to Cortes, encamped outside. 
Cortes marched into Cholula with only his Spaniards 
and the Cempoallan Indians. 

Cholula, we remember, was one of the oldest cities 
of Aiiahuac and the place, according to tradition, where 
the god, Quetzalcoatl, had passed twenty years of 
teaching on his way to the coast to leave Anahuac. In 
his honor a wonderful temple had been built. Its base 
covered forty-four acres and its height was a hundred 
and twenty-seven feet. It held a marvelous idol 
adorned with gold and jewels and feathers. The Cho- 
lulans believed that if a foe attacked the temple and 
pulled down the walls, the god would pour forth a flood 
of water to overwhelm them. The temple was the 
Mecca of Anahuac. 

The Spaniards were hospitably received in the city, 
and were struck with the wide, clean streets and solid 
houses. As in Tlascala, the guests were feasted before 
they were assigned quarters. 

For a few days the friendly intercourse went on. 
Then an embassy from Montezuma changed it all. 
The envoys told Cortes that his approach to Tenoch- 
titlan was very displeasing to Montezuma, and de- 
parted. At once the Cholulans lost their friendliness. 

Cortes knew this meant danger. The Cempoallans, 
who had been wandering through the city, told him, 
moreover, that many of the streets were barricaded and 
that the flat housetops were piled with heaps of stones 
ready for an assault. He heard, too, that a large sac- 
rifice had been ordered to induce the god to bless the 



118 THE BOYS' PRESCOTT 

Cholulans in their coming plans, and that many of the 
citizens had sent their wives and children out of the city. 

These rmnors of danger were tm'ned by Marina into 
certainties. The wife of a Cholulan cacique had be- 
come very fond of Marina and had seen a good deal 
of her. She urged Marina to come to her house in 
order to be safe from the danger that threatened the 
Spaniards. Montezuma had twenty thousand men in 
the neighborhood, she said, and all Cholula was in arms, 
ready to murder the Spaniards as they marched out of 
the city. The streets had been barricaded and pits dug 
to throw the Spanish troops into confusion and make 
them an easy prey to their murderers. Some of the 
captured Spaniards were to be sacrificed in Cholula 
and the rest led in fetters to Montezuma. 

Marina listened to the story, and at the first possible 
chance told Cortes. He saw in what a dangerous situ- 
ation he was. To fight or to fly seemed equally hope- 
less in a city of enemies, with barricaded streets and 
fortified houses on every side. 

His first step was to induce two priests to visit him. 
From them, by means of gifts — the gold sent him by 
Montezuma thus buying Montezuma's secrets — ^he 
learned that all Marina had said was true. The su- 
perstitious Emperor, when he thought the Spaniards 
were gods, had told Cholula to treat them kindly. 
Later, when another oracle had declared that Cholula 
would be the white men's grave, Montezuma had 
changed his policy, and sent word to Cholula that the 
Spaniards must not live. The leather straps to bind 
the captives were ready at hand, so sure were the In- 
dians that the Spaniards could not escape them. 

Cortes told the priests that he meant to leave the city 



THE MASSACRE OF CHOLULA 119 

the following morning, and asked to have the chief 
caciques visit hini, and also that two thousand Cho- 
lulans might be sent him to carry his goods. Then he 
dismissed them. 

At once he sent word to the Tlascalans outside the 
city to be ready to come to his aid at the first musket 
shot. He warned them to bind green wreaths on their 
heads to mark them from the Cholulans. 

When night came, the Spaniards slept on their arms. 
Cortes, after posting many sentinels, listened anxiously 
hour after hour for any noise that should be a warning 
of danger, but the only sounds that came were the 
trumpets of the Indian priests proclaiming from the 
temple the watches of the night. 

At the earliest dawn Cortes drew his men up against 
the walls of the courtyard, leaving the center clear, and 
trained his guns on the entrances to the court. His 
arrangements were scarcely made when the chiefs ar- 
rived with the porters for which Cortes had asked. 
Cortes received them all in the center of the courtyard. 
Bluntly he told the chiefs that he had discovered their 
treachery and was about to punish it. 

The Cholulans were thunderstruck at this wonderful 
man who could even read their thoughts. They did not 
deny their guilt, but they threw the blame on Monte- 
zuma. 

" That," Cortes said, "is no excuse for treachery." 

He stepped back and gave his signal. The Spanish 
infantry under the walls leveled their guns at the host 
of Cholulans in the courtyard. Unarmed and taken 
by surprise, they were helpless and perished miserably. 

The Cholulans from the city tried to force their way 
in to help their comrades, but the Spanish guns pro- 



120 THE BOYS' PRESCOTT 

tected the avenues of approach. In the meantime the 
Tlascalans outside the walls, hearing the artillery, had 
rushed into the city, and had fallen on the rear of the 
enemy, putting them to utter rout. The Cholulans, 
running wildly to and fro, tried to invoke the help of 
their god by pulling down the temple wall, but instead 
of the flood of water they looked for to drown their 
foes, they brought down on themselves only a cloud of 
dust. 

Then they gave up. When even their gods failed 
them, of what use was it to stand against the wonderful 
fair-skinned men who came from a far country to de- 
stroy them I 



CHAPTER XIV 

THE MARCH TO MEXICO 

1519 

WHILE most of the Cholulans fled, the Span- 
iards burned the temple with the faithless 
god within it, and fired and sacked the 
town. The destruction lasted till Cortes was moved 
by the entreaties of the Cholulan chiefs and the Aztec 
envoys to put a stop to it. By that time the riches of 
the city were largely in the hands of Cortes' men. 

Cortes sent two of the caciques to their countrymen 
with promises of pardon if the Cholulans were ready 
to swear allegiance to the King of Spain and to hold 
to it. 

Gradually in the days that followed the Cholulans 
regained confidence and returned to their homes, which 
Cortes helped them rebuild. He also opened the mar- 
ket again. People from the country came into the city 
to take the places of the men who were slain, and the 
Massacre of Cholula was at an end. 

It was a cruel deed, but when we judge it, we must 
judge it by the ideas of the age in which it was com- 
mitted. We know now that no nation has the right 
to conquer another nation and seize its lands and riches. 
In Cortes' time, as we have seen, they believed that 
God had given them these heathen lands to conquer. 
Once started on that conquest with all its dangers, they 

121 



122 THE BOYS' PRESCOTT 

must preserve their own lives and achieve their purpose. 
The cruel deeds that stood in their way seemed to them 
only part of their work. In this case it was to Cortes 
either the lives of his enemies or of his own men, and 
he chose the former. The treachery that the Cholulans 
had meant to use with Cortes came back on their own 
head. 

The effect on Anahuac of this terrible deed was tre- 
mendous. The "fair gods," who had landed from their 
white-winged boats, with their strange, plunging beasts 
and their weapons that breathed fire, had conquered the 
Tabascans, the Cempoallans, and even the unconquer- 
able Tlascalans. They had proved how they could 
meet an honest foe, now they showed how they could 
punish a false friend. All Anahuac trembled as they 
wondered whose turn would come next. 

Especially did fear come to Montezuma in his palace 
in Tenochtitlan. He had in his heart believed all the 
time that the gods had sent "Malinche," as they called 
Cortes, to overthrow the Aztec Empire. Every once 
in a while his warrior spirit, as we have seen, had risen 
to overthrow this superstitious fear, but back it had al- 
ways come. Now when he saw Tlascala, his only 
strong enemy, joined in friendship with Malinche, and 
Cholula, one of his strongest vassals, thrown to the 
ground by the same hand, he felt that all hope was over. 
His despair grew as every day his fast-running post- 
men, with their picture-newspapers, brought word to 
Tenochtitlan that some new tribe had sworn allegiance 
to the white men and were taking to them in Cholula 
rich presents of gold and slaves. 

Montezuma made great sacrifices to his gods and im- 
plored their aid, but, when they gave him no hope, there 



THE MARCH TO MEXICO 123 

was nothing left but to send another embassy and more 
rich presents to Cortes. 

The envoys assured Cortes that Montezuma knew 
nothing of the Cholulan uprising, and that it was 
merely by accident that an Aztec force had been at 
Cholula at that time. Cortes accepted the presents, 
but took the Indian Emperor's statements with a grain 
of salt. 

Before Cortes left Cholula, he tried to make the 
natives Christians. But Cholula had been too long the 
sacred city of Anahuac to be willing now to change her 
religion. Cortes again was ready to press the point, 
but was prevented by the wise and kindly priest, Father 
Olmedo. All that the general could do was to per- 
suade the Indian priests to break open the wicker cages 
and free the captives who were confined in them waiting 
to be sacrificed, and to set up in that part of the great 
temple which had escaped fire a huge stone cross, which 
spread its arms above the city. One good deed Cortes 
accomplished before he left Cholula; he reconciled that 
city with Tlascala. They had been foes for centuries; 
from this time on they were friends. Cortes felt that 
when he marched out of the city, instead of leaving an 
enemy in his rear, he should have behind him a depot 
on which he could depend. 

As he was ready to resume his march, his Cempoallan 
alhes asked leave to return home. They could not 
easily get over their ancient fear of Aztec greatness, 
and were afraid to put themselves into Montezuma's 
power by entering the city of Tenochtitlan, even in the 
company of Malinche. Cortes was sorry to lose them, 
for they had been faithful helpers, but he had no reason 
for denying their request. He gave them their share 



124 THE BOYS' PRESCOTT 

of treasure, and a letter to Escalante in Villa Rica, and 
let them go. In his letter to Escalante he told of his 
own successes; instructed him to be good to the Toto- 
nacs, whose friendship to the Spaniards had exposed 
them to Montezuma's revenge ; and warned him always 
to be on the outlook for interference from Cuba. 
Among all the dangers that were around him, Cor- 
tes felt that until he was sure of the approval of 
Charles V, the greatest was that which threatened from 
Velasquez. And events proved that he was right. 

It was November when Cortes with his forces, white 
and red, started on his final march to the Valley of 
Mexico and Mexico City. As he went he was met con- 
tinually by envoys bearing presents from different 
tribes, all anxious for help against the oppression of 
Montezuma. 

They cautioned Cortes against entering the city of 
Tenochtitlan and putting himself into Montezuma's 
power. They said the Emperor had blocked the main 
road so as to catch the white men in the narrow moun- 
tain passes through which they would be forced to 
travel. 

Cortes paid good heed to all warnings, but continued 
his march. He was the inspiration of the entire army; 
always gay, fearing nothing, he rode sometimes in the 
van and sometimes in the rear, cheering his men and 
rousing them when they grew despondent. By day he 
kept their courage up and at night he watched over 
them. He never slept till he had made the rounds of 
the camp to see that every sentinel was at his post. 
One night he came so near a sentinel without speaking 
that the man leveled his cross-bow, and if Cortes had 



THE MARCH TO MEXICO 125 

not hastily called out the pass-word he would have been 
shot. 

When the Spaniards reached the fork of the road, 
they found the main road blocked with huge stones and 
trees, as the Indians had said. 

"Wliy is this road cut off?" Cortes asked the Aztec 
envoys sternly. 

"It is done by the Emperor's orders," the envoys 
answered glibty, "to prevent Malinche taking a path 
which further on he would find impassable for his 
horse." 

"Is it the most direct road to Tenochtitlan?" Cortes 
inquired. 

"It is," replied the envoys. 

"That is enough for a Spaniard," Cortes said, and 
commanded his Indian allies to clear away the trees 
and the boulders. 

Cortes, in his own mind, added this incident to the 
long list of happenings which convinced him of Monte- 
zuma's treachery. But still, when the road was cleared, 
he went on over the mountains to Tenochtitlan. As 
the army climbed out of the temperate region into the 
higher hills, the piercing winds from the frozen peaks 
cut through even the soldiers' quilted doublets and 
made the men shiver as they marched. They camped 
for the night in the stone buildings which were the rest- 
ing places for Montezuma's postmen on their runs from 
the coast to Tenochtitlan. Thus unknowingly the Em- 
peror had provided refuge for his enemies. 

The next day the path of the army lay between the 
two biggest mountains in North America. Popocate- 
petl towered seventeen thousand eight hundred and 



126 THE BOYS' PRESCOTT 

fifty-two feet above sea level on their left hand, and on 
their right was Iztaccihuatl — the White Woman — al- 
most as high. To the Indians the volcano of Popocate- 
petl was a god and the White Woman was his wife. 
They held the mountains in great awe and were sure no 
one could climb Popocatepetl and live. But the Span- 
iards proved otherwise. While the army halted for 
rest, Ordaz and nine men forced their way through the 
dense forests at the foot of the volcano, climbed up 
thirteen hundred feet to the line of black lava, over the 
plains of perpetual snow where the air was so rare they 
could scarcely breathe, and on to the crater itself, where 
the cinders and smoke and sparks pouring out on them 
finally drove them back. The Indians looked with awe 
at these wonderful beings who, for a pastime, under- 
took such difficult and dangerous feats. 

Refreshed by its rest, the army set out early the next 
day and, leaving the piercing cold of the peaks behind 
them, dropped down into the fertile Valley of Mexico. 

They came on the sight of it suddenly; lakes, hills, 
woods, green meadows, yellow fields of corn, shining 
cities, spread out before them like a panorama, and in 
the midst, rising out of the largest lake, lay the city of 
Tenochtitlan — with its gleaming canals, its white build- 
ings, and its huge temple — the "Venice of the Aztecs." 
Beyond, across the water, a bright speck, shone the city 
of Tezcuco. The sight was to the Spaniards, Mr. 
Prescott says, "like the spectacle which greeted the eyes 
of Moses from the summit of Pisgah, and in the warm 
glow of their feelings, they cried out, Tt is the promised 
land!'" 

All this beauty and civilization brought fear to the 
more cowardly among Cortes' men, as they thought of 



THE MARCH TO MEXICO 127 

the hard fighting that lay ahead before they could take 
possession of JMexico. To Cortes, however, with the 
wonderful sight came only inspiration and fresh cour- 
age. He was able to give some of his own energy and 
confidence to his faltering troops until, with their usual 
even stride, the veterans once more took up their march 
down the mountainside toward the City of Mexico, 
readj^ to dare again the great deeds they had done at 
Tabasco and Tlascala. 

Here, too, even at Mexico's gates, Cortes heard from 
the natives that thronged out from the villages to greet 
the white men only complaints of Montezuma's oppres- 
sion. He met, a little further on, one of Montezuma's 
frequent embassies bearing not only gifts but Monte- 
zuma's promise that he would give fifty pounds of gold 
to each Spanish captain, two hundred pounds to Ma- 
linche himself, and pay a yearly tribute to the King of 
Spain, if the white men would not come to Mexico. 

Cortes, ever courteous, sent back word that it would 
be much easier to arrange these matters in a personal 
interview — and kept on with his march. 



CHAPTER XV 

CORTES MEETS MONTEZUMA 
1519 

WHEN the Aztec ambassadors brought to Te- 
nochtitlan the news that Cortes, heedless of 
Montezuma's wishes, was already over the 
mountains, and moving across the plains to Mexico, the 
Emperor, beside himself with terror and anxiety, shut 
himself up and refused to eat, finally convinced that the 
Spaniards were indeed sent by the gods to overturn the 
might of his mountain empire, which had been so secure 
until these strange white beings had invaded his land. 

Despondently Montezuma summoned his nobles in 
council, Cacama, the King of Tezcuco, not knowing 
how he was to hate the white men later, advised the 
Emperor to receive Cortes courteously as ambassador 
of a foreign prince. Cuitlahua, the Emperor's brother, 
urged him to gather his forces and drive back the white 
men before they set foot in the kingdom. Hopelessly 
Montezuma disregarded both suggestions. 

"Of what avail is resistance when the gods have de- 
clared against us?" he answered, and prepared to send 
one more embassy to Cortes almost at his gates. 

Cacama himself headed this embassy which was to 
invite Cortes to Tenochtitlan. He was a yoimg fellow, 
only twenty-five, strong and straight. He traveled in 
a litter decorated with gold and gems and covered with 
green plumes. 

128 



CORTES MEETS MONTEZUMA 129 

Cacama found Cortes in the town of Ajotzinco on 
Lake Chalco, where the natives were entertaining the 
Spaniards most hospitably. He told Cortes that he 
came from Montezuma to bid him welcome to Tenoch- 
titlan, and, as proof of Montezuma's friendship, Cacama 
gave Cortes three large pearls. Cortes in retmn gave 
the Indian prince a chain of cut glass, which was as 
valuable to him as were the pearls to the Spanish gen- 
eral. Then with many assurances of friendship, Ca- 
cama went back to Tenochtitlan and Cortes resmned 
his march. 

The way lay along the southern shore of Lake 
Chalco, through beautiful woods, cultivated fields and 
orchards of fruit trees unknown to the white men. Fi- 
nalty they came to a great stone dyke five miles long, 
which separated the fresh water of Lake Chalco from 
an arm of the salt lake of Tezcuco. In its narrowest 
part, the dyke was only a lance's length in breadth, but 
in its widest, eight horsemen could ride abreast. The 
white men crossed it with eyes open for all the strange 
sights about them : the floating gardens, rising and fall- 
ing with the swell of the lake; the canoes filled with 
Indians, darting hither and thither like swallows; the 
many small towns built out on piles far into the lake 
and looking, at a distance, "like companies of wild 
swans riding quietly on the waves." Halfway across 
the dyke, they found a good-sized town, with buildings 
which stirred great admiration in the Spaniards. They 
stopped for refreshment and here, so near to the im- 
perial city, Cortes heard no more of Montezuma's- 
cruelty and oppression, only of his power and riches. 

After this brief rest, the white men went on. Their 
march was made diflicult by the swarms of curious In- 



130 THE BOYS' PRESCOTT 

dians who, finding the canoes too far away for a com- 
plete view of the strangers, chmbed up on the causeway 
to gaze at them. Cortes had to clear a way through 
the crowd for his troops before they could leave the 
causeway and reach Iztapalapan, the city of Monte- 
zuma's brother, Cuitlahua, on the shores of Lake 
Tezcuco. 

Cuitlahua had invited many neighboring caciques to 
help him receive Cortes with proper ceremony. The 
Spaniards were welcomed with gifts and then invited 
to a banquet in Cuitlahua's palace, before they were 
assigned their quarters. 

Cortes greatly admired Cuitlahua's city, especially 
the prince's big garden. It was laid out regularly and 
watered in every corner by canals which connected it 
with Lake Tezcuco. The garden was filled with shrubs 
and vines and flowers delightful to smell and see. It 
had fruit trees, too ; in one corner was an aviary of bril- 
liant song birds; in another a huge stone reservoir 
stocked with fish. The reservoir was almost five thou- 
sand feet in circumference and the stone walk around 
it was broad enough for four persons to walk abreast. 

"In the city of Iztapalapan, Cortes took up his quar- 
ters for the night. We may imagine what a crowd of 
ideas must have pressed on the mind of the conqueror, 
as, surrounded by these evidences of civilization, he pre- 
pared with his handful of followers to enter the capital 
of a monarch, who, as he had abundant reason to know, 
regarded him with distrust and aversion. This capital 
was now but a few miles distant, distinctly visible from 
Iztapalapan. And as its long lines of ghttering edi- 
fices, struck by the rays of the evening sun, trembled on 
the dark-blue waters of the lake, it looked like a thing 



CORTES MEETS MONTEZUMA 131 

of fairy creation, rather than the work of mortal hands. 
Into this city of enchantment Cortes prepared to make 
his entry on the following morning." (Prescott's 
"Conquest of Mexico.") 

It was on the 8th day of November, 1519, that Cortes 
started on the march that was to take him into the City 
of Mexico. The general with his cavahy was in the 
van; behind him came his few hmidreds of infantry — 
weather-beaten and disciplined by the summer's cam- 
paign; next, was the baggage; while the six thousand 
Tlascalans closed the rear. The little army marched 
back along the southern shore of Lake Tezcuco until it 
reached the great causeway of Iztapalapan, which ran 
across the lake straight north to the very heart of the 
City of Mexico. The dyke was broad enough for ten 
horsemen to ride abreast; Cortes and his army, as they 
advanced, still wondered at the strange, beautiful sights 
about them. Less than two miles from the capital the 
dyke was cut by a shorter dyke running in from the 
southwest, and at the point where this dyke joined the 
main causeway of Iztapalapan there was built across 
the causeway a stone fortification twelve feet high, which 
could be entered only by a battlemented gateway. It 
was called the Fort of Xoloc. 

At Xoloc Cortes was met by a body of Aztec nobles 
who, in their holiday dress, came to welcome him. As 
each noble separately had to greet Cortes, and as there 
were several hundred of them, the troops had time to 
get acquainted with the Fort of Xoloc. Later they 
grew to know it even better. 

After the ceremony was over, the army went on along 
the dyke of Iztapalapan, and presently came to a canal 
cut through the causeway and spanned by a wooden 



132 THE BOYS' PRESCOTT 

draw-bridge. To Cortes, as he walked over it, must 
have come the question whether getting out of Mexico 
would be as easy as getting in. 

There was not much time to wonder about the future, 
however, for now Montezuma, the great Emperor, lord 
of Anahuac, was coming forth to meet Cortes. In the 
midst of a throng of great men, preceded by three offi- 
cers of state bearing golden wands, came Montezuma's 
royal Htter shining with gold, shaded by a canopy of 
brilhant feather work, adorned with jewels and fringed 
with silver, and borne on the shoulders of his nobles who, 
barefooted, walked with humble, downcast eyes. 

The royal train halted and Montezuma descended. 
His attendants spread down a cotton carpet, that his 
royal feet might not touch the earth, and over this, sup- 
ported on one side by Cuitlahua and on the other by 
Cacama, Montezuma came to greet Cortes. 

He was about forty years old — six years older than 
Cortes. His dark, melancholy eyes gave a serious ex- 
pression to his copper-colored face, with its straight hair 
and thin beard. He moved with the dignity of a great 
prince, and as he passed through the lines of his own 
subjects, they cast their eyes to the ground in humility. 

As Montezimia approached, Cortes threw his reins to 
a page and dismounted, and with a few of his chief men 
went forward to meet the Emperor. The two great 
men looked at each other with a keen interest. 

Montezuma very graciously welcomed Cortes to his 
city, and Cortes answered with great respect, adding 
many thanks for all the Mexican's gifts. He hung on 
Montezuma's neck a cut glass chain and, except for the 
interference of two shocked nobles, he would have em- 
braced him. 



CORTES MEETS MONTEZUMA 133 

Montezuma appointed Cuitlahua to escort the Span- 
iards to their quarters in the city, while he himself en- 
tered his litter and was carried back to his palace, fol- 
lowed by the Spaniards with colors flying and music 
playing. Thus Cortes triumphantly entered Tenoch- 
titlan. 

The Spaniards looked around them with the keen in- 
terest of people in a place of which they have heard 
much and see now for the first time. As they had en- 
tered by the southern causeway, they were marching 
through the broad avenue which led from the Iztapala- 
pan dyke straight to the great temple in the center of 
the city. The houses on this street belonged to the 
nobles and were built of red stone with broad, flat roofs 
defended by the parapet which turned every housetop 
into a fort. Wonderful gardens surrounded the houses 
and sometimes were laid out on the roofs. 

The streets were crowded with people, as eager to see 
the Christians as the Christians were to see them. The 
Indians were awed by the white faces and the glittering 
armor and the horses, but they had only anger for the 
Tlascalans. The white men might be gods, but the 
Tlascalans were the Aztecs' bitterest enemies, and it 
was not pleasant to Aztec eyes to see their foes walk- 
ing confidently through the Mexican city. 

The procession, crossing many bridges where the 
canals cut the avenue at various places, came at length 
to the heart of the City of Mexico, the great square, 
from which ran the four broad avenues. North, south 
and west these avenues ran to the three causeways that 
joined the city to the neighboring mainland. The 
avenue running east stopped at the lake front. In the 
center of the square stood the great temple in its court- 



134 THE BOYS' PRESCOTT 

yard surrounded by a high wall cut by a gate opposite 
each avenue. The temple itself was, excepting the 
sacred temple of Cholula, the largest and most im- 
portant of the land. 

Opposite the temple, on the southwest corner of the 
great square, was the royal palace which Montezuma 
had erected. On the west side was the old royal palace 
built fifty years before by Montezuma's father, Axa- 
yacatl. This palace was given to the Spanish army for 
their quarters. 

Montezuma was in the courtyard of the palace of 
Axayacatl waiting to receive Cortes and his train. He 
took from a vase of flowers a chain made of shells orna- 
mented with gold and joined by links of gold, and as 
he threw it over Cortes' head, he said, "This palace be- 
longs to you, Malinche, and to your brethren. Rest 
after your fatigue, for you have much need to do so, 
and in a little while I will visit you again." 

Then he and his followers withdrew, and the white 
men were left with their allies in their palace in Tenoch- 
titlan. Through much danger and untold hardships, in 
the face of Montezuma's commands, they had reached 
his city, and he had housed them in a royal palace. The 
Spaniards must have wondered that night if the thing 
were real or if they were in a dream. 



CHAPTER XVI 

MALINCHE IN MEXICO 

1519 

AS soon as Cortes was left alone, he went to work 
with his usual care to examine his quarters. 
The palace, like most of the Mexican houses, 
except for a tower in the center, had only one story, but 
it spread over enough ground to shelter all the Span- 
iards, and there was room for the Indian allies in the 
courtyard enclosed by a thick stone wall. The rooms 
were hung with gay-colored cotton draperies and the 
floors covered with rush mats. To sit on, there were 
low carved stools ; and to lie on, there were mats woven 
thickly from palm leaves. The bed-covers were made 
of cotton. 

After Cortes had inspected his quarters, he assigned 
his soldiers their places, and enforced strict military dis- 
ciphne. The wall around the courtyard was turreted 
at intervals, and in each tower he posted sentinels, while 
he mounted his guns to command the approaches from 
the square into the courtyard. No soldier was allowed 
to leave the palace grounds without permission, for Cor- 
tes knew how easily there might start between a Mexi- 
can and a Spaniard a brawl that would in a minute undo 
all the efforts he had made to reach Tenochtitlan as a 
friend. 

The camp placed, the soldiers sat down to the dinner 
that Montezuma's servants had prepared for them. 

135 



136 THE BOYS' PRESCOTT 

After they had finished dinner and their afternoon nap, 
Montezuma was again announced. Cortes received 
him with great respect. He and the Emperor sat, 
while their trains stood by, and Marina acted as in- 
terpreter between the Spanish general and the Mexican 
Emperor. 

"Why did Malinche come to Mexico?" Montezuma 
asked. 

"To see a monarch so distinguished as Montezuma," 
Cortes answered, "and to declare to him the Christian 
faith." 

"Are you kinsman of your Emperor?" asked Monte- 
zuma. 

"We Spaniards are kin to one another," Cortes an- 
swered, "and subjects of one great monarch, who, in- 
deed, holds us in peculiar estimation." 

The two talked for a long time, and Montezuma 
showed that he knew all that Malinche had done from 
the day he set foot in Anahuac. Nothing had been left 
out of the picture newspapers. Wlien the interview 
was over, Montezuma was presented to the chief Span- 
ish generals and learned their names. Then he ordered 
his slaves to bring forward the presents he had ready 
for his guests: a cotton suit for every man, including 
the Indian allies; and gold chains for the generals. 
Then, with great ceremony, the Emperor withdi-ew. 

After dark that night the Spaniards celebrated their 
arrival in Tenochtitlan by firing salutes of artillery, 
which added the last touch of awe to Aztec hearts. The 
thunder of the gods and the belching sulphurous smoke 
of their feared Popocatepetl seemed to be at the com- 
mand of the white men. 

The next day Cortes asked and received permission 



MALINCHE IN MEXICO 137 

to return JMontezimia's visit. The Emperor even sent 
his o^^l servants as a personal escort to MaHnche. Cor- 
tes di-essed in his most striking clothes, and took with 
him Alvarado, Sandoval and Ordaz and a few common 
soldiers. 

IMontezuma's palace was a huge wandering struc- 
ture of red brick, much like the palace of Axayacatl, 
though it was ornamented with marble, and over the 
main entrance were carved Montezuma's arms — an 
eagle with an ocelot in his talons. 

As the Spaniards passed in through the entrance, 
they came first into the court, where fountains were 
playing and Aztec nobles loitering about, and then 
through the apartments to the hall of audience. At the 
door of this room the Mexicans took off their sandals 
and covered their rich clothes with coarse, gray cloaks 
before they could usher in Cortes. 

Montezuma was sitting at the far end of the long 
room with a few favorite caciques. He received Cortes 
kindly, and the two talked together of unimportant mat- 
ters, until Cortes suddenly plunged into the subject 
nearest to his heart — ^the conversion of the Aztecs to 
the Christian religion. 

Very earnestly he preached the power of his God, 
and tried to show Montezuma that, in offering their 
cruel human sacrifices, the Mexicans were only worship- 
ing Satan by another name. Montezuma listened po- 
litely and probably understood but little of what Ma- 
hnche said. The little he understood, he did not care 
about. Educated as a priest of the Mexican war god, 
to him there was nothing repulsive in offering to Huitzi- 
lopotchli his fellow-creatures as sacrifices and afterwards 
eating their flesh. Montezuma, as Emperor, was head 



138 THE BOYS' PRESCOTT 

of both church and state in Anahuac, and he was not 
ready to change either pohcy to suit the white men. 

"I know," he said when Cortes had finished, "that you 
hold this discourse wherever you go. I doubt not that 
your God is, as you say, a good being. My gods, also, 
are good to me. Yet what you say of the creation of the 
world is like what I have been taught to believe. It is 
not worth while to discourse further of the matter. My 
ancestors were not the original proprietors of the land. 
They have occupied it but a few ages, and were led here 
by a great Being, who, after giving them laws and rul- 
ing over the nation for a time, withdrew to the region 
where the sun rises. He declared, on his departure, 
that he or his descendants would again visit them and 
resume his empire. Your wonderful deeds, your fair 
complexions, and the quarter whence you come, all show 
that you are his descendants. If I have resisted your 
visit to my capital, it is because I have heard such ac- 
counts of your cruelties — that you sent the lightning to 
consume my people or crushed them to pieces under 
the hard feet of the ferocious animals on which you ride. 
I am now convinced that these were idle tales ; that the 
Spaniards are kind and generous in their natures; you 
are mortals of a different race, indeed, from the Aztecs, 
wiser and more vahant — and for this I honor you. 
You, too," he added with a smile, "have been told, per- 
haps, that I am a god and dwell in palaces of gold and 
silver. But you see it is false. My houses, though 
large, are of stone and wood like those of others ; and as 
to my body, you see it is flesh and bone like yours. It is 
true, I have a great empire inherited from my ancestors ; 
lands, and gold, and silver. But your sovereign beyond 
the water is, I know, the rightful lord of all. I rule in 



MALINCHE IN MEXICO 139 

his name. You, Malinche, are his ambassador ; you and 
your brethren shall share these things with me. Rest 
now from your labors. You are here in your own 
dwellings, and everj'-thing shall be provided for your 
subsistence. I will see that your wishes shall be obeyed 
in the same way as my own." 

"It is true," Cortes answered, "that my sovereign is 
the great being you call him, but, be assured, he has no 
desire to interfere with your authority; only out of pure 
concern for your welfare, to effect your conversion and 
your people's to Christianity." 

That ended the interview. Cortes and his party took 
leave, loaded as usual with rich gifts. Even the com- 
mon soldiers received each two gold collars apiece, and 
they were moved to such gratitude by this generosity 
that all the Spaniards, as they passed the Emperor hats 
in hand, made him a deep bow. Cortes, besides his pres- 
ents, took with him permission to visit the city and its 
principal buildings. Shut up as he was in a strange 
country, it behooved him to be well acquainted with it. 

Montezuma was ready, not only to have Cortes see 
the city, but to accompany him personally in the sight- 
seeing. Perhaps he thought that from what he knew 
of the doings of Malinche in the temples of Anahuac, 
it would be safer to be close by when Malinche inspected 
the temple of Tenochtitlan. He appointed his chief 
caciques to guide Cortes and his men through the great 
market on the way to the temple where Montezuma 
would wait to receive his visitors. 

Cortes, at the head of his Spanish troops, horse and 
foot, set out one morning four days after his arrival to 
visit Montezuma in the great temple. As it was market 
day, the city was thronged with people, both men and 



140 THE BOYS' PRESCOTT 

women. The weather was growing wintry, so instead 
of cotton cloaks, the people wore cloaks of fur or feather 
work or of a cloth spun from rabbit's hairs and dyed as 
marvelously as their cotton. The women wore a series 
of gay, embroidered cotton petticoats, one showing 
above another. The Spaniards did not tire, as they 
walked through the streets, of watching these dark- 
faced Mexicans, who were in some ways as civilized as 
the white men. 

But if they thought the streets crowded, when they 
reached the great market they were overwhelmed. 
Forty thousand people from all Anahuac were in the 
huge place, gossiping and looking and buying, much as 
we do in a market nowadays, except that instead of 
paper and gold and silver coins, they had for money bits 
of tin, bags of cacao and quills filled with gold-dust. 
The sellers had each his own stall, and there was for 
sale everything that Mexicans could want. There was 
cotton in bales; cotton woven into cloth; cotton cloth 
made into dresses or curtains or coverlets, as fine and 
soft and rich in color as the silks in Europe. There 
were shields made of leather, and cloaks made of feather 
work. There was gold fashioned by the skilful gold- 
smiths of Anahuac into all sorts of curious toys and 
ornaments. There were weapons of all kinds, — 
hatchets, arrows, lances and swords. There were drug 
shops, and barber shops, and stationery shops where 
one could buy for the picture writing blank books made 
of parchment or cotton and folded together like a fan 
or the paper made from the fibers of the "Swiss 
Family Robinson Tree." One could buy provisions — 
poultry, game birds, fruit, vegetables and corn. Some 
of the food was even cooked, ready for eating — pastry 



MALINCHE IN MEXICO 141 

and cakes and confectionery offering themselves to the 
hungry; while on a booth near by one could drink 
chocolate beaten to a solid froth and flavored with va- 
nilla. And everj^where were flowers; the stalls were 
smothered in them, for the Indians of Anahuac loved 
flowers as part of their life. 

Through all this crowd of thousands of men and 
women there was no disorder. Policemen patrolled the 
market, and if any one transgressed the laws, he was at 
once arrested and taken before a court that sat in one 
comer of the great market. We can imagine Cortes 
watching the scene with brooding eyes, as he realized 
the civilization and wealth, the strength and numbers 
of the people in whose power he had put himself and his 
followers. 

From the market the Spaniards went back to the 
square where stood the great terraced temple, on the 
summit of which Montezuma was waiting them. He 
had left two priests and several nobles at the entrance 
to the temple court to carry Cortes up and save him the 
trouble of climbing the steps from one terrace to an- 
other. Montezuma himself was always carried up, and 
wished to show the same honor to Malinche. But the 
general, with thanks, declined, and at the head of his 
men marched up the hundred and fourteen winding 
steps which took them to the top, passing four times 
around the temple as they mounted from one terrace 
to another. 

Montezuma and the high priest came forward to greet 
Cortes as he reached the top and came out on the broad, 
flat, stone-paved area. 

"You are weary, Malinche, with climbing up our 
great temple," Montezimia said. 



142 THE BOYS' PRESCOTT 

"The Spaniards are never weary," Cortes answered. 
He was willing that the Mexicans should think him 
supernatural. 

Immediately before them the Spaniards saw the big 
stone on which the victims were sacrificed. At the end 
of the court were the two holy towers, each with a fire 
before it — ^the sacred fii^e that was never allowed to go 
out. Each tower had three stories, the lower one of 
stone, the two upper of wood. The lower stories held 
the images of their war gods — one of Huitzilopotchli, 
and the other of Tezcatlipoca, the god who had created 
the world; the upper stories held the necessaries for 
their worship. Near by was the huge round drum of 
snake skin which could be heard for miles. When the 
drum was beaten, every inhabitant listened, for it was 
never struck unless some great event was pending. 
The Spaniards looked at it now with curiosity. Later 
they were to hear it with horror. 

Montezuma pointed out to the Spanish general the 
wonderful view from the temple top. They could see 
beneath them Montezuma's palace and the palace of 
Axayacatl where the Spaniards were quartered; the 
market place they had just left; the broad avenues lead- 
ing from the heart of the city to the long causeways; 
the many canals in the city crowded with canoes, as the 
streets were crowded with people in gay, picturesque 
dress. Beyond were the blue waters of Lake Tezcuco, 
and further still the woods and hills of the mainland and 
the peak of Popocatepetl which some of them had 
climbed with such exertion. 

Cortes gazed with wonder, but presently his delight 
in the beauty around him changed to his intense desire 



MALINCHE IN MEXICO 143 

to convert all this wonderful country to Christianity. 
He turned to Father Ohnedo. 

"What a conspicuous place to plant the Christian 
cross would be this temple area," he said, "if Monte- 
zuma would but allow it." 

Father Olmedo quickty advised him not to ask such 
a concession from Montezuma just yet, and Cortes con- 
tented himself with asking permission to enter the sanc- 
tuaries. The priests consented, and Montezuma led 
the Spaniards first into the shrine of the war god. 

"They found themselves in a spacious apartment in- 
crusted on the sides with stucco, on which various figures 
were sculptured, representing the Mexican calendar, 
perhaps, or the priestly ritual. At one end of the 
saloon was a recess with a roof of timber richly carved 
and gilt. Before the altar in this sanctuary, stood the 
colossal image of Huitzilopotchli, the tutelary deity and 
war god of the Aztecs. His countenance was distorted 
into hideous hneaments of symbolic import. In his 
right hand he wielded a bow, and in his left a bunch of 
golden arrows, which a mystic legend had connected 
with the victories of his people. The huge folds of a 
serpent, consisting of pearls and precious stones, were 
coiled round his waist, and the same rich materials were 
profusely sprinkled over his person. On his left foot 
were the delicate feathers of the humming-bird, v/hich, 
singularly enough, gave its name to the dread deity. 
The most conspicuous ornament was a chain of gold and 
silver hearts alternate, suspended round his neck, 
emblematical of the sacrifice in which he most de- 
lighted. 

"The adjoining sanctuary was dedicated to a milder 



lU THE BOYS' PRESCOTT 

deity. This was Tezcatlipoca, next in honor to the in- 
visible Being, the Supreme God, who was represented 
by no image, and confined by no temple. It was 
Tezcatlipoca who created the world, and watched over 
it with providential care. He was represented as a 
young man, and his image, of polished black stone, was 
richly garnished with gold plates and ornaments ; among 
which a shield, burnished like a mirror, was the most 
characteristic emblem, as in it he saw reflected all the 
doings of the world." (Prescott's "Conquest of Mex- 
ico.") 

The walls of both these sanctuaries were stained with 
human blood, and their dark-robed priests flitted 
through the rooms like bats. Cortes and his men were 
glad to come out again into the fresh air of the temple 
area. 

Cortes turned to Montezuma. 'T do not compre- 
hend," he said with a smile, "how a great and wise prince, 
like you, can put faith in such evil spirits as these idols, 
the representatives of the Devil ! If you will but permit 
us to erect here the true cross, and place the images of 
the blessed Virgin and her Son in your sanctuaries, you 
will soon see how your false gods will shrink before 
them!" 

"These are the gods," Montezuma answered, "who 
have led the Aztecs on to victory since they were a na- 
tion, and who send the seed-time and harvest in their 
seasons. Had I thought you would have offered them 
this outrage, I would not have admitted you into their 
presence." 

Possibly Father Olmedo was pulling at Cortes' 
sleeve to warn him that this was not the time to change 
Montezuma's religion. In any case, Cortes apologized 



MALINCHE IN MEXICO 145 

to Montezuma for having wounded him, and with his 
men withdrew. 

Montezuma stayed behind, his superstitious mind 
deeply stirred. He had admitted heretics into his holy 
places and they had profaned the altars. He must ex- 
piate by sacrifice this crime to his gods. The Spaniards 
wound down from the summit of the great temple to 
the courtyard below, which was so smoothly paved that 
the horses slipped as they would on ice. There were 
other smaller temples in this courtyard dedicated to 
different Aztec gods. One, dedicated to Quetzalcoatl, 
was round, with an entrance built like a dragon's mouth 
bristling with fangs. The Spaniards shudderingly 
glanced in as they passed it, and left the temple court- 
yard glad to be free from the place they called "The 
hell." 

The rites of the heathen religion had stirred the Span- 
iards to new zeal for the performance of their own. 
The very next day they asked from Montezuma per- 
mission to turn one of the halls of Axayacatl's palace 
into a chapel. Montezuma was generous enough to 
forget the affront to his gods and to grant the white men 
the privilege they asked. 

As the Spaniards worked, they came upon a door 
which had been recently sealed up. Through the camp 
ran the rumor that Montezuma's treasure was concealed 
in this old palace of his father's. At once the Spaniards 
were a-tiptoe in their eagerness to see what lay behind 
that freshly plastered entrance. 

With excited hands they tore away the plaster and 
uncovered a locked door. Through this they forced 
their way to the chamber beyond and thought they had 
reached fairy-land. 



146 THE BOYS' PRESCOTT 

They were in a large room filled with the wealth of 
which they had dreamed, rich stuffs, jewels, bags of 
gold and silver, and gold and silver worked into beauti- 
ful and delicate ornaments. The men stood dazzled. 
Finally they withdrew, awestruck, and plastered again 
the doorway. Cortes ordered that the treasure-room 
should never be mentioned, but no man that saw it 
ever forgot that he was living in a palace which con- 
tained the treasure of an empire. 



CHAPTER XVII 



CORTES' COUP d'etat 
1519 



WHILE Cortes with his army had been 
marching from the seacoast to Cholula on 
his way to Tenochtitlan, the httle colony 
he had left imder Escalante in Villa Rica de Vera Cruz 
had been having its own troubles. 

The country north of Vera Cruz had for its governor 
an Aztec chief named Quauhpopoca, who was of course 
a vassal of Montezuma. This chief declared his wish 
to come to Vera Cruz to swear his allegiance to the 
Spanish authority. He asked that four white men 
should come to escort him through the unfriendly tribes 
that lay between him and Villa Rica. 

This was a common request among the natives, and 
Escalante sent four soldiers to act as Quauhpopoca's 
escort. When the Spaniards reached his camp, Quauh- 
popoca seized them and killed two of them. The other 
two escaped and fled back to Escalante. 

At once Escalante called his men to arms. At the 
head of fifty white men and several thousand Indian 
alHes, he marched against Quauhpopoca. In the 
pitched battle that followed, only the Spaniards stood 
firm; the allies scattered in every direction at the first 
shock. The Spaniards, however, clearly saw an image 
of the Virgin hovering above them to cheer them on, 
and with the help of this vision, their fire-arms and their 

147 



14.8 THE BOYS' PRESCOTT 

own good courage, they won the victory. One of the 
captives taken in battle told the Spaniards that the re- 
volt was stirred up by Montezuma. 

It was a costly victory for the Spaniards, for they 
lost eight of their men, and one of the eight was Esca- 
lante himself. Word sent at once to Cortes reached 
him before he had left Cholula, but he had concealed it 
from all but his most trusted friends, for he feared to 
lessen the courage of his soldiers on their forward march. 
He had sent Alonzo de Grado to take Escalante's place, 
and had gone on over the mountains to the City of 
Mexico to meet Montezuma. 

Montezuma also, in ghastly fashion, had heard the 
news of Quauhpopoca's revolt and defeat. His post- 
men had carried to him the head of one of the Spaniards 
killed in the battle. Montezuma looked at it with hor- 
ror and fear and, instead of sacrificing it in the temple, 
ordered it sent out of the city. It seemed to speak to 
his superstitious mind a prophecy of his own downfall. 

All this had happened, of course, before Montezuma 
and Cortes had ever met; it was in the minds of both, 
along with other treacheries, while they talked together, 
though neither of them mentioned it. Cortes had been 
a week in Montezuma's city before the subject came up. 

It had been an anxious week for Cortes. In spite of 
the comfort and luxury in which the Spaniards were 
living, Cortes could not forget that he, with a handful 
of followers, was in the heart of an enemy's country in 
a city which, like a trap, was easy to get into but could 
be all prongs if one wanted to get out without the ruler's 
permission. And that ruler, kind and friendly as he 
was at present, might at any time, by a new act of 
treachery, show them quite a different face. He might 



CORTES' COUP D'ETAT 149 

tire of giving presents to the Spaniards ; there might at 
any moment arise a quarrel between an Aztec subject 
and a Spanish soldier that would turn all Aztec hearts 
against the white men. Cortes had heard more than 
once that the Mexicans resented having an army quar- 
tered on them. They had only to raise the bridge, and 
there were the Spaniards, rats in a trap indeed. 

And even if no real evil befell, how much nearer was 
Cortes to his conquest of the country? And he had no 
time to waste in making that conquest. He had never 
received an answer to the letter he had sent to Charles V 
by Monte jo and Puertocarrero ; the King might any 
day send a governor to supersede Cortes, or even, if that 
did not happen, Velasquez in Cuba was sure to send out 
another expedition to oppose itself to Cortes' plans. 
Cortes must succeed before the King could depose him, 
or before Velasquez could send a force against him, or 
Montezuma turn into an open enemy. He resolved on 
a coup d'etat as bold as that by which he sunk his ships 
and so forced his men to follow him whether they would, 
or not. 

With his own mind quite made up as to what he should 
do, Cortes called a council of his officers and set before 
them the necessity of making some decisive move. All 
agreed that they could not go on living in Tenochtitlan 
in idle ease as they were doing now, but opinion was 
divided as to what the next step should be. Some 
thought they should withdraw secretly and get over the 
causeways to the mainland before the Mexicans knew 
they had stirred; others thought it time to go, but ad- 
vised that they should say good-by to Montezuma and 
depart openly. To the first plan Cortes objected that 
it would look like a flight prompted by fear and would 



150 THE BOYS' PRESCOTT 

bring the enemy upon their track; to the second, he 
asked what rehance could be placed on Montezuma's 
friendship, since they all knew that it was only his 
frightened superstition that made him entertain the 
Spaniards at all. 

Cortes, in short, was against leaving Tenochtitlan be- 
fore they had conquered and converted it. As their 
expedition had broken with Velasquez, and had not yet 
received authority from the King, the only way to win 
the King's blessing was by success. If they should 
leave Mexico for some braver spirits to conquer, this 
expedition would get only punishment, added to all 
they had already suffered, while the newcomers would 
reap the glory and wealth lying ready for the hand bold 
enough to seize it. 

With this preface, Cortes proposed his scheme, and 
his men, as they heard it, held their breath at its daring. 
It was for the Spaniards to march to the royal palace 
and to bring back the Emperor to residence in the palace 
of Axayacatl. If they could persuade him to come 
peaceably, it would be better; but even if they had to 
use force, he must come. Held in the Spanish camp, 
he would be a hostage for the good behavior of his 
people, and while Cortes would leave in Montezuma's 
hands the show of power, it would be Cortes himself 
who would be at the head of the government. 

Cortes knew well how to cajole those around him to 
his own way of thinking; before the council was dis- 
missed, all his officers were pledged to stand by him in 
his rash adventure. 

Cortes did not sleep that night; he paced his apart- 
ment from dark to dawn, trying to look into the future 
to discover the results of his act. 



CORTES' COUP D'fiTAT 151 

In the morning Father Ohnedo said mass as usual in 
the new chapel. The officers listened solemnty, for they 
knew that when they heard another mass success would 
have crowned their deed or all their plans would be in a 
state of ruin and confusion. 

Cortes asked for an interview with Montezuma and, 
as it was granted, he marched with his troops to the 
palace. He left some men in the avenues outside and 
drew up the rest in order outside the courtyard. He 
took with him Marina and five cavaliers whom he thor- 
oughly trusted — Alvarado, Sandoval, Lujo, Leon and 
Avila — all dressed, as he was, in complete armor. He 
gave orders that thirty of his soldiers should wander into 
the palace as if by chance in groups of three or four 
while the conference was going on. Then with his five 
knights at his back, fearless and alert, he went into the 
Emperor's presence. 

Montezuma received him kindly, even joking with 
Cortes as the conversation went on. He gave the gen- 
eral many presents and offered him one of the royal 
princesses as his wife. Cortes declined this honor, as 
he already had a wife in Cuba. He kept up the light 
conversation until he saw that his thirty soldiers were 
assembled in the hall. Then suddenly, dropping his 
jesting tone, very seriously he told Montezuma the story 
of Escalante and Quauhpopoca, adding that Quauh- 
popoca had accused Montezuma of ordering the revolt. 
Cortes asked the Emperor what he had to answer to such 
a charge. 

"Such an act could only be imputed to me by my 
enemies," Montezuma declared proudly. 

"I believe that," Cortes answered, "but to prove it to 
my people, it is necessary that you send for Quauh- 



152 THE BOYS' PRESCOTT 

popoca and his accomplices that they may be examined 
and dealt with according to their deserts." 

"That I am ready to do," replied Montezmna, and 
took from his wrist his signet — a precious stone en- 
graved with the image of the war god. He gave the 
signet to a noble and told him to hasten to Quauhpopoca, 
show him the signet and command at once at Tenoch- 
titlan his presence and that of all concerned in the mur- 
der of the Spaniards. 

When the noble had gone, Cortes pushed a step 
fm-ther. "I am now perfectly convinced of your inno- 
cence," he said politely to the Emperor, "but it is im- 
portant that my sovereign shall be equally convinced. 
Nothing will promote this so much as for you to transfer 
your residence to our palace till the arrival of Quauh- 
popoca. Such an act of condescension will of itself 
show a personal regard for the Spaniards that will fully 
absolve you from all suspicion." 

As Montezuma in astonishment listened to this speech 
he became first pale and then flushed with resentment. 

"When was it ever heard," he exclaimed, "that a great 
prince like myself voluntarily left his own palace to be- 
come a prisoner in the hands of strangers?" 

"It will not be as a prisoner that you will go," Cortes 
answered; "it will be but a change of residence from 
one of your palaces to another — a thing you do fre- 
quently. You will be surrounded by your own house- 
hold and will hold intercourse with your people. And 
you may count on nothing but respectful treatment from 
the Spaniards." 

"I will not go," insisted Montezuma. "If I should 
consent to such degradation, my subjects never would." 

Two hours passed while Cortes urged and Monte- 



CORTES' COUP D'ETAT 153 

zuma refused. He offered to give up a son and daugh- 
ter as hostages to the Spaniards, but go himself he 
would not. 

Finally, Leon, high-mettled and impatient, lost his 
jself-control. They all knew now that if Montezuma 
did not go with them as their friend after this interview, 
he would stay behind as their enemy. The Spaniards 
had shown their hand and must play it out. 

"Why do v/e waste words on this barbarian?" Leon 
exclaimed roughly. "We have gone too far to recede 
now. Let us seize him, and if he resists, plunge our 
swords into his body." 

r Montezuma could not understand the words, but the 
fierce tone and threatening gestures frightened him. 
"What did he say?" he asked Marina. 

Marina translated the words as gently as she could. 
"Go with them," she implored. "If you do, you will be 
treated with all respect and kindness ; if you refuse, you 
expose yourself to violence, perhaps to death." 

Montezuma, between fear and anger, looked around 
the circle of white faces. Everywhere, instead of sym- 
pathy, he saw stern eyes and mouths that spoke iron 
resolution. His superstitious fears overcame him, as 
he felt that his gods supported him no longer. 

"I will go," he whispered in a voice that could scarcely 
be heard. 



CHAPTER XVIII 

CACAMA SENDS A CHALLENGE 
1520 

AS soon as Cortes heard Montezuma's whispered 
words, he gave orders for the royal htter to be 
brought. The nobles who bore it could scarcely 
believe their ears when the order came. But Monte- 
zuma, covering his humiliation with his pride, told his 
nobles that he wished to take up his residence for a 
while with his friend who had crossed the water to see 
him. 

As the Emperor's train passed through the streets a 
rumor ran ahead of it that the white men were carrying 
off Montezuma by force. The crowd that gathered 
was seething for a tumult. One sign from the Em- 
peror would have freed Tenochtitlan from the white 
invaders. But in his superstition he spoke the words 
that fastened his fetters. 

*'Disperse!" he ordered. "I am visiting my friends 
of my own accord." 

The mob dispersed. The Aztecs had no excuse for 
attacking the Emperor's friends. 

The nobles, however, were not content. Monte- 
zuma's brother, Cuitlahua, lord of Iztapalapan, Ca- 
cama, king of Tezcuco, and Guatemozin, Montezuma's 
nephew, all thought that Montezuma was not playing 
his part as a great prince. All were young and strong 
and warlike, and all had grown to hate the Spaniards. 

154 




"But although Montezuma was still an Emperor, in his heart he knew 
he was a prisoner" — Page 155 



CACAMA SENDS A CHALLENGE 155 

Guatemozin, indeed, had always hated them. As Han- 
nibal, in old times, had sworn undying enmity to the 
Romans, so had Guatemozin to the Spaniards. 

When Montezuma reached the palace of Axayacatl 
he was given his choice of rooms, which were furnished 
with all elegance. His wives and pages were with him, 
and his life went on in its usual routine. The Spaniards 
treated him with the greatest respect ; no one sat in his 
presence, and even Cortes took off his hehnet when he 
spoke to the Emperor. 

But although in these ways Montezuma was still an 
Emperor, in his heart he knew he was a prisoner. In 
the front of the palace and in the rear of the palace there 
was a constant patrol of twenty men, changed three 
times in twenty-four hours. Another guard was sta- 
tioned in the ante-chamber of the Emperor's apartment, 
for Cortes knew that if Montezuma should now escape, 
the Spaniards would be much worse off than before this 
bold stroke had been made. Leon was in charge of 
this guard. Although Cortes had put him in irons in 
Vera Cruz, he was now one of Cortes' most trusted 
friends. The constant guard of forty men gave the 
soldiers much more work and they soon tired of it. 

"Better this dog of a king should die than that we 
should wear out our lives in this manner," cried a rude 
soldier one day in Montezuma's presence. 

The Emperor felt the insult though he could not un- 
derstand the words. By Cortes' order the soldier was 
severely punished. 

Montezuma had not been long in Axayacatl's palace 
when the messenger returned from the coast with 
Quauhpopoca, his son and fifteen chiefs. Although 
Quauhpopoca was a man of high rank and had traveled 



156 THE BOYS' PRESCOTT 

all the way carried by slaves in his litter, he entered 
Montezuma's presence in a coarse robe and with down- 
cast eyes. Montezuma received Quauhpopoca very 
coldly and referred his examination to Cortes. The 
trial was not long. 

"Are you a vassal of Montezuma?" Cortes asked. 

"What other sovereign could I serve?" answered 
Quauhpopoca. 

He acknowledged the murder of the Spaniards and 
Cortes condemned him to be burned to death. Then 
Quauhpopoca threw the blame of the deed on Monte- 
zuma. 

It did not save him, however. The funeral piles were 
built in the palace courtyard out of the javelins, arrows 
and spears taken, with Montezuma's permission, from 
the arsenals in the courtyard of the great temple. Cor- 
tes in this way got rid of great quantities of ammuni- 
tion which might otherwise be used against him in case 
of hostilities. 

While these preparations were going on, Cortes en- 
tered Montezuma's apartment without his usual respect. 
With him was a soldier carrying iron fetters. 

"It is proved by the declaration of your own subject," 
Cortes said sternly, "that you were the original con- 
triver of the violence offered the Spaniards. Such a 
crime, which is punished by death to the subject, must 
also be atoned for by the sovereign." 

He then ordered the fetters to be placed on Monte- 
zuma's ankles and, after it was done, left the room to 
carry out the execution of Quauhpopoca. This insult 
to a broken enemy is one of Cortes' deeds hardest to 
forgive. Even according to the code of his day it was 
ungenerous. 



CACAJMA SENDS A CHALLENGE 157 

"IMontezuma was speechless under the infliction of 
this last insult. He was like one struck down by a 
heavy blow, that deprives him of all his faculties. He 
offered no resistance. But, though he spoke not a word, 
ill-suppressed moans, from time to time, intimated the 
anguish of his spii'it. His attendants, bathed in tears, 
offered him their consolations. They tenderly held his 
feet in their arms, and endeavored, by inserting their 
shawls and mantles, to reheve them from the pressure 
of the iron. But they could not reach the iron which 
had penetrated into his soul. He felt that he was no 
more a king." (Prescott's "Conquest of Mexico.") 

In the courtyard outside the whole Spanish force was 
under arms, ready to repel any Aztec insurrection. No 
tumult was raised, however. The criminals took their 
punishment with the silent endurance of the Indian 
races, and the Indians looking on watched also in silence. 
They were used to the burning of captives and supposed 
the execution to be by Montezuma's order. 

When Cortes went back to remove Montezuma's fet- 
ters, he found the Emperor's spirit entirely broken. 
But a few days before, all Anahuac had feared and 
obeyed him; now he was only a crushed child in the 
hands of a hard master. He thanked Cortes for taking 
off the fetters. 

Cortes, thinking his power over the Emperor firmly 
established, gave him leave to go back, if he wished, to 
his own palace. Montezuma refused, saying that if he 
were free, his nobles would never rest till they had 
pushed him to rebellion against Malinche. There was 
doubtless truth in this, but probably, too, Montezuma 
was as afraid of Cuitlahua and Cacama and Guate- 
mozin as he was of Malinche. Whether his reason for 



158 THE BOYS' PRESCOTT 

refusing to leave Cortes came from fear or from gen- 
erosity, Cortes received it with pleasure. 

"I love you as a brother," he exclaimed, embracing 
Montezuma — and this time there were no nobles to stop 
him. "Every Spaniard among us will be as zealously 
devoted to your interests as you have shown yourself 
mindful of theirs." 

Thus Cortes had ventured his coup dfetat and won. 
It would have been impossible to a man less sure of 
himself and of his power over others. Cortes was able 
not only to accomplish the bold deed, but to govern the 
situation with wisdom afterward. It needed surely a 
man almost superhuman to enter the capital of an abso- 
lute monarch, whose nod controlled the fate of thou- 
sands, and, in the midst of tens of thousands of devoted 
subjects, carry the prince a captive out of his own pal- 
ace and hold him for weeks in captivity. 

While Cortes thus guarded Montezuma in Tenoch- 
titlan, news came from the little city of ViUa Hica that 
Grado, the new governor, had not the force to keep 
order there. Villa Rica was too important to take any 
chances with, and Cortes determined to send as its 
governor one of his best men to supersede Grado. He 
chose for the office Sandoval, a young fellow, brave, 
just and wise, loved by the soldiers for his unselfishness 
and good temper. Sandoval set out with instructions 
as to his government, and with orders to send back to 
Tenochtitlan some of the cordage, sails and iron saved 
from the dismantled ships. 

After Sandoval was gone, Cortes, with his usual 
foresight, started Martin Lopez, an experienced ship- 
builder, at building two brigantines. This work not 
only kept his men employed, but the vessels would give 



CACAMA SENDS A CHALLENGE 159 

the Spaniards a chance to get out of the city and across 
the lake if the Mexicans should raise the drawbridges 
in the causeways and cut the visitors off from the main- 
land. The timber Montezmna allowed the Spaniards 
to take from the roj^al forests. He himself was much 
interested in the enterprise. 

Except for knowing he was a prisoner, Montezuma's 
days went on as if he were in his own palace. Cortes 
waited on him every morning to receive his orders, and 
after that the Emperor gave audience, as he always had, 
to envoys from all parts of Anahuac, keeping up the 
careful etiquette that his court had always known. 
When his business for the day was over, Montezuma 
amused himself by hunting or by playing Mexican 
games or by watching the Spaniards drill or Martin 
Lopez build his "water houses." When the Emperor 
played games with the Spaniards he set up some gold 
or precious stones for a prize ; if he lost, he took it good- 
naturedly ; if he won, he gave the prize to those around 
him. He had a present always ready for any one who 
did him the smallest service. His feelings were very 
sensitive. One day a soldier spoke to him angrily, and 
tears came into Montezuma's eyes. Cortes at once 
condemned the soldier to be hanged, but the Emperor 
begged for his life and the soldier got off with a flog- 
ging. Montezuma thought this punishment deserved. 

"If a similar insult had been offered by a subject of 
mine to Malinche, I should resent it in like manner," 
he said. 

It was very seldom that any one was rude to Monte- 
zuma, for his gentleness and generosity made him be- 
loved by both captain and soldier. He knew the name 
and rank of every officer in the Spanish army, and had 



160 THE BOYS' PRESCOTT 

detailed for his own service a little Spanish page named 
Orteguilla, of whom he was very fond and whom he 
always kept with him. "Malinche" was the Emperor's 
greatest favorite; next came Leon and "Tonatiuh," as 
he called Alvarado. 

Thus in the palace of Axayacatl the winter days ran 
quietly away, while Cortes increased his power in every 
direction and Montezuma amused himself. Outside 
the palace there was less calm; Cacama, Cuitlahua and 
Guatemozin took good care that the Aztecs should not 
accommodate themselves too easily to the new order of 
things. 

Cacama had tried many times, always in vain, to 
rouse Montezuma to assert his power and escape from 
his prison. When he found no success there, Cacama 
turned to Montezuma's brother, Cuitlahua, lord of 
Iztapalapan. Cuitlahua and many other caciques were 
ready enough to enter into a league with Cacama 
against the Spaniards, though there were some of the 
Aztec nobles who refused to consider any scheme not 
authorized by Montezuma. 

The news of their intended uprising came to Cortes 
in the palace of Axayacatl. With his usual quickness 
of enterprise he made ready to stamp out the flame of 
rebellion — before it should begin to run through the 
country — by marching on Tezcuco. 

Montezuma, however, restrained him. Cacama was 
strong and fearless and, in his own country, would have 
thousands behind him; he could not be conquered. 
Montezuma advised Cortes to follow his own policy and 
send ambassadors to Cacama. 

Cortes reluctantly agreed with this milder method. 
He sent his envoys, but Cacama refused to treat with 



CACAMA SENDS A CHALLENGE 161 

them. Cortes, enraged, sent a more threatening mes- 
sage in the name of the King of Spain. 

"I acknowledge no such authority," Cacama repHed 
proudly to the second embassy. "I know nothing of 
the Spanish sovereign nor of his people, nor do I wish 
to." 

Montezuma interfered then and sent for Cacama to 
come to Mexico that he might mediate between Cacama 
and Malinche. 

Cacama's smile was grim when he received Monte- 
zuma's message. Was he, like his uncle, to walk into 
the Spanish trap? 

"Go back," he said to the envoy, "and say to Monte- 
zuma that when Cacama visits his capital, it will be to 
rescue the city and Montezuma and their common gods 
from bondage. I will come with my hand not in my 
bosom, but on my sword; to drive out the detested 
strangers which have brought such dishonor on our 
country." 

Cacama's opinion had changed since he had advised 
Montezuma to receive the Spaniards politely. 



CHAPTER XIX 

COETES PLANTS THE CEOSS IN MEXICO 
1520 

STIRRED by Cacama's answer, Cortes again 
made ready to march against the bold young 
prince, but once more he was dissuaded by 
Montezuma. 

"Many of the Tezcucan nobles are in my pay," he 
said. "Through their means it will be easy to secure 
Cacama's person, and thus break up the confederacy 
at once without bloodshed." 

So it seemed that even the savages were refined and 
civilized enough to keep paid spies in a nation with 
whom they were at peace. 

Through Montezuma's spies, Cacama was induced to 
hold one of his rebel councils in a villa built over the 
lake in such a way that boats could pass beneath it. 
While the council was going on, the spies seized Cacama 
and put him into the boat waiting under the house, and 
carried him to Mexico. 

It was a strange meeting between the Emperor of 
Mexico, supposedly free, and the King of Tezcuco, 
who, though indeed a captive, held his high, defiant 
bearing and his hatred for his captors. He reproached 
Montezuma for his treachery in helping bring into 
bondage the one who was ready to give all to free 
Anahuac from its invaders. He reproached him, too, 
with cowardice so unworthy of the royal Aztec race. 

162 



CORTES PLANTS CROSS IN MEXICO 163 

Montezuma had nothing to answer in his own defense. 
He turned Cacama over to Cortes. 

Cortes, though he admired always a brave man, had 
httle mercy on his enemies. He put Cacama in fetters, 
and looked about for a puppet to fill the Tezcucan 
thi'one, as Montezuma filled the throne of Mexico. 
Cacama had three younger brothers, Ixtlilzochitl, who 
had already offered Cortes his friendship before the 
Spaniards entered Tenochtitlan, Coanaco, a strong 
friend to the Aztec power, and Cuicuitzca, who was 
still a lad without much will of his own. Cortes found 
the boy best suited to his purpose. 

The Aztec Emperor had the right of choice in the 
question of succession to the Tezcucan throne. When 
Montezuma, therefore, issued an edict deposing Ca- 
cama on account of his "rebellion," and naming Cui- 
cuitzca as king, the Tezcucans submitted at once, either 
from fear of the Spaniards or from their desire to 
please Montezuma. Cuicuitzca was welcomed in Tez- 
cuco as the new king. 

Soon after Cacama's arrest, Cuitlahua, Montezuma's 
brother, was also taken. Thus with most of the royal 
family of both Mexico and Tezcuco in his keeping, 
Cortes became the real ruler of Anahuac. He dictated 
his policy to Montezuma and to Cuicuitzca, and they 
made it law to their obedient followers. 

As the spring advanced he set himself to discover the 
riches of his kingdom. He obtained from Montezuma 
a large, fertile tract of land, which he stocked with 
animals, trees and plants, as an estate for the King of 
Spain; he despatched parties of Spaniards under In- 
dian guides to explore the rivers where gold was to be 
found; he sent along the seacoast a detachment of a 



164 THE BOYS' PRESCOTT 

hundred and fifty men under Leon to find a harbor 
where he could estabhsh a permanent seaport. 

Cortes now asked that Montezuma should swear al- 
legiance to the King of Spain. Montezuma was will- 
ing to acknowledge the sovereignty of the king of these 
wonderful beings, descendants of Quetzalcoatl, and 
called together his nobles. 

"You all know," he said, "the tradition that the great 
Being who once ruled this land declared, on his depart- 
ure, that he would some time return and resume his 
sway. That time has arrived. The white men come 
from the quarter where the sun rises, beyond the ocean, 
where Quetzalcoatl withdrew. They are sent by their 
master to reclaim the obedience of his ancient subjects. 
I am ready to acknowledge his authority. You have 
been faithful vassals of mine during many years. I 
now expect that you will show me this last act of obedi- 
ence by acknowledging the great King beyond the 
waters to be your lord, also, and that you will pay him 
tribute in the same manner that you have hitherto done 
to me." 

He ended in tears. His nobles, astonished at his 
humiliation and his grief, assured him of their love and 
ready obedience. The oaths of allegiance were then 
administered by Cortes. "There was not a Spaniard 
who could look on the spectacle with a dry eye," one 
of the old chroniclers tells us. 

As he had made Montezuma a vassal of Charles V, 
Cortes next suggested that Montezuma should pay 
tribute to his new sovereign. Again the Emperor 
obeyed. The tax collectors were sent through the 
country and in a few weeks came back with large quan- 
tities of gold and silver and rich stuffs. 



CORTES PLANTS CROSS IN MEXICO 165 

Then, by JNIontezuma's orders, the sealed door in the 
palace of Axayacatl was broken open, and all his treas- 
ure brought forth, to be added to the tribute collected 
tlu-ough the country. Some of the Spaniards had seen 
the treasure, but to those to whom it was new, it seemed 
mcredible. In their wildest dreams they had not ex- 
pected anything like this. 

Cortes accepted the wealth for the King of Spain, 
and set to work to make it into portable shape. The 
goldsmiths were summoned to break up the large orna- 
ments and to melt the gold into bars. It took the 
workmen three days to do it. When Cortes wanted 
to weigh it, he had to make his own scales, for the Aztecs 
did not know the use of weights. 

When the treasure was weighed and counted, it was 
found that its value amounted to six million, three hun- 
dred thousand dollars. If the army had divided this 
sum equally, each man would have had fifteen thousand 
dollars. But first one-fifth of the whole sum must be 
taken for the King; then another fifth for Cortes; out 
of the three-fifths left, there must be paid to Cortes 
and Velasquez the cost of the expedition, a proper sum 
to each of Cortes' captains, a bonus to the cavalry, 
arquebusiers and crossbow-men, and a portion to the 
colony at Villa Rica. When the remainder was divided 
among the common soldiers, there was for each one 
something over a thousand dollars instead of fifteen 
thousand. Then of course the fretting began again. 

"Was it for this," the soldiers grumbled, "that we 
left our homes and families, periled our lives, submit- 
ted to fatigue and famine, and all for so contemptible 
a pittance! Better to have stayed in Cuba, and con- 
tented ourselves with the gains of a safe and easy traffic. 



166 THE BOYS' PRESCOTT 

When we gave up our share of the gold at Vera Cruz, 
it was on the assurance that we should be amply re- 
quited in Mexico. We have, indeed, found the riches 
we expected ; but no sooner seen, than they are snatched 
from us by the very men who pledged us their faith!" 

Cortes gave his whole attention to calming his men. 
"I am sorry," he said, "to see you so unmindful of the 
duty of loyal soldiers, and cavaliers of the Cross, as to 
brawl like common banditti over your booty. The di- 
vision has been made on perfectly fair and equitable 
principles. As to my own share, it is no more than is 
warranted by my commission. Yet, if you think it too 
much, I am wiUing to forgo my just claims, and divide 
with the poorest soldier. Gold, however welcome, is 
not the chief object of my ambition. If it is yours, you 
should still reflect that the present treasure is little in 
comparison with what awaits you hereafter, for is not 
the whole country with its mines at your disposal? It 
is only necessary that you should not give an opening 
to the enemy by your discord, to circumvent and crush 
you." 

The soldiers listened. All, except the few who still 
cherished their grudge, acknowledged the justice of his 
words, and took the share of treasure allotted them. 
Most of them did not hold it long, for with cards made 
of old drumheads they fell at once to gambling, and 
many of the soldiers, unlucky in their play, were in a 
few days as poor as they had been before. The wise 
men, like their officers, had their share of gold made 
into chains and other articles easy to carry and protect. 

With Montezuma an acknowledged vassal of Charles 
V, and the business of the kingdom all in Cortes' hands, 
the general congratulated himself that his conquest was 



CORTES PLANTS CROSS IN MEXICO 167 

really accomplished. The Emperor seemed quite con- 
tented to stay in the palace of Axayacatl. When he 
wanted to hunt in the royal preserves on the other side 
of the lake, he sailed across in the larger of Martin 
Lopez' new brigantines, which carried a gun. 

"On board of this vessel, Montezuma, delighted with 
the opportunity of witnessing the nautical skill of the 
white men, embarked with a train of Aztec nobles and 
a numerous guard of Spaniards. A fresh breeze 
played on the waters, and the vessel soon left behind it 
the swarms of Hght pirogues which darkened their sur- 
face. She seemed like a thing of life in the eyes of 
the astonished natives, who saw her, as if disdaining 
human agency, sweeping by with snowy pinions as if 
on the wings of the wind, while the thunders from her 
sides, now for the first time breaking on the silence of 
this 'inland sea,' showed that the beautiful phantom 
was clothed in terror." (Prescott's "Conquest of 
Mexico.") 

Montezuma went to the great temple to worship, too, 
though Cortes took care to send with him as an escort 
a hundred and fifty of the men who helped in his cap- 
ture. The Emperor was received at the temple with 
great ceremony, but after the service was over, came 
willingly back to the palace of Axayacatl. 

But until Montezuma should be converted from his 
worship of Huitzilopotchli with its horrible sacrifices, 
Cortes felt that his material successes counted for little. 
Every day Father Olmedo argued with the Emperor, 
who listened with courtesy and interest but made al- 
ways the same reply. 

"The God of the Christians is good, but the gods of 
my own country are the true gods for me." 



168 THE BOYS' PRESCOTT 

Finally Cortes, secure in his position, decided that 
the heathen worship must stop whether the Emperor 
was convinced or not. He told Montezuma that he 
would like the great temple made ready for the Chris- 
tian worship. 

Montezuma received the request with the greatest 
consternation. He had yielded to all Cortes' demands 
so far because he believed Malinche to be descended 
from Quetzalcoatl and so ranking even higher than the 
Emperor of all Anahuac. But a descendant of Quetz- 
alcoatl would never counsel that the temple be given 
over to the worship of strange gods! 

"Why," asked Montezuma, "why, Malinche, will you 
urge matters to an extremity that must surely bring 
down the vengeance of our gods, and stir up an insur- 
rection among my people, who will never endure this 
profanation of their temples?" 

"I will endeavor," Cortes answered, "to moderate the 
zeal of my followers and pe^'suade them to be contented 
with one of the two towers on the temple area. But 
that you must grant. If you do not, we shall be obliged 
to take it by force, and to roll down the images of your 
false gods in the face of the city. We fear not for our 
lives, for though our numbers are few, the arm of the 
true God is over us." 

Montezuma, still in great distress, took counsel of his 
priests, and finally allowed the Christians the right to 
worship in one of the two tower sanctuaries, while the 
Aztecs kept the other sacred to their war god. 

Great was the joy in the Spanish camp when the per- 
mission was received. At once the soldiers swarmed 
up to the sanctuary allotted them. They cleansed it 
from its impurities, put an image of the Virgin in place 



CORTES PLANTS CROSS IN MEXICO 169 

of the idol, and hung a crucifix above the altar, which 
they decorated with fresh flowers. 

When the chapel was ready for worship, the whole 
Spanish army prepared to go to church. In holiday 
di'ess they moved in solemn procession up the steps and 
around the terraces of the great temple until they 
reached the paved area high above the city roofs. 
There, with Father Olmedo at the altar, the soldiers, 
on their knees near the door of the chapel, listened to 
the good Father as he said mass. As the Te Deum 
swelled from this heathen temple toward heaven, tears 
of gratitude filled Cortes' eyes. His last wish was ful- 
filled. He had planted the cross in Mexico. 




CHAPTER XX 

THE NEW EXPEDITION OF YELASQUEZ 

1520 

'HILE Cortes on the temple area was think- 
ing he had now gained everything for 
which he had come to Anahuac, circum- 
stances were at work which were to show him that he 
was still far from the conquest of Mexico. One event 
following another in quick succession brought him from 
the planting of the cross to "the melancholy night." 

The Aztecs had so far shown Cortes their milder side ; 
they had allowed him to hold their Emperor prisoner, 
and had obeyed the Spanish general's orders issued 
through Montezuma; they had even given their wealth 
to support the white men. But when sacrilegious 
hands were laid on their religion, stirred by their priests 
— and doubtless by Guatemozin also, the Aztecs began 
to question how much they must endure. 

Montezuma himself showed the change. He lost his 
cheerful manner and became moody and grave. In- 
stead of amusing himself with the Spaniards, he kept 
to his own apartments, where his nobles came often to 
see him; and Montezuma's little Spanish page, Orte- 
guilla, who had learned from his master much of the 
Aztec language, was now always sent out of the room 
when the nobles appeared. 

While Cortes was wondering with some anxiety at 
the reason for this alteration, Montezuma sent him a 

170 



NEW EXPEDITION OF VELASQUEZ 171 

smninons. Cortes went to the Emperor's apartments, 
taking with him as usual two or three cavahers. 

Montezuma, though pohte, was cold. He turned di- 
rectly to Cortes. 

"All my predictions have come to pass," he said. 
"The gods of my country have been offended by the 
violation of their temples. They have threatened the 
priests that they will forsake the city if the sacrilegious 
strangers are not either di'iven from it or sacrificed on 
the altars in expiation of their crimes. It is from a 
regard for your safety that I tell you this. If you have 
any concern for it yourself, you will leave the country 
without delay. I have only to raise my finger, and 
every Aztec in the land will rise in arms against you." 

Cortes listened, calm outwardly, but much disturbed 
inwardly. He respected Montezuma's warning as an 
act of friendship to men of whom he was really fond, 
and he did not doubt its necessity. The Spaniards 
were in the greatest danger. 

Very coolly, however, he thanked Montezuma for his 
warning. "I am ready now to leave," he said, "but I 
should dislike to go in such haste, when I have no ves- 
sels ready on the coast to take me home ; that is the only 
obstacle to my leaving at once. There is another thing 
I should regret, too — if I have to be pushed out like 
this, I shall have to take the Emperor with me." 

That remark startled Montezuma as much as his 
news had moved Cortes. 

"How long will it take to build the vessels?" he asked, 
and pondered Cortes' answer. 

"I will do this," he concluded. "I will send a sufiS- 
cient number of workmen to the coast to build the ships 
under the Spaniards' orders. In the meantime, I will 



172 THE BOYS' PRESCOTT 

use my authority to restrain the impatience of my peo- 
ple with the knowledge that the Spaniards will leave 
the land as soon as means are provided." 

At once a large body of Aztecs, under the most ex- 
perienced Spanish ship -builders, left Mexico for Vera 
Cruz. There was a large enough force to cut the trees 
and build the ships in short time, if the head of the 
expedition had not carried with him the command of 
Cortes* that every effort was to be used to delay the 
work. 

After the ship-builders had left, gloom fell on the 
palace of Axayacatl. Every one felt it, whether or not 
they knew the reason why Montezuma was no longer 
their friendly companion. Cortes realized fully the 
danger. Every soldier ate, drank and slept in his 
armor, with his sword by his side. The horses were 
caparisoned day and night, with the bridles hanging at 
the saddle bows. The sentinels were doubled, and the 
guns planted to sweep the great avenues. And then 
up from Villa Rica came news of the next event that 
was to be the Spaniards' undoing; and for this one 
Monte jo was responsible. If he had not, in disobedi- 
ence to Cortes' commands, anchored off the island of 
Cuba over night on his way to Spain, Velasquez would 
have known nothing of Cortes' doings. 

It was May now, 1520, more than a year since Cortes 
had sailed away from Cuba in February, 1519, leaving 
Cuba's governor, Velasquez, black with fury at the 
trick played upon him. It was in October of that same 
year that Monte jo's runaway sailor had brought to 
Velasquez his first news of Cortes' success. After that, 
Velasquez did not rest till he had fitted out another 
expedition, strong enough to overcome any opposition 



NEW EXPEDITION OF VELASQUEZ 173 

Cortes might ofPer. He asked permission from the 
King of Spain, and then went ahead, without waiting 
to know whether he said yes or no. Velasquez meant 
at first to take command himself, but as he was pretty 
big and fat and not anxious to go through the hardships 
ahead, he finally chose as leader a Castilian hidalgo 
named Panfilo Narvaez. 

Narvaez had been with Velasquez when he had con- 
quered Cuba. From that time on he had been a fa- 
vorite of Velasquez', who had given him different gov- 
ernment posts. He was brave and a good soldier, but 
he had no power to hold his soldiers, as Cortes held his, 
by his own personality, while his conceit and arrogance 
made him deaf to any suggestions. He had no doubt 
as to his own ability to supersede Cortes. 

From October, 1519, to March, 1520, Velasquez and 
Narvaez went through the island of Cuba, fitting out 
vessels, laying in supplies, and enlisting recruits. The 
stories of Mexico's riches had spread so fast that Cuba 
was full of men, old and young, almost tumbling over 
each other in their effort to get a place in the new ex- 
pedition. Cortes had sailed to find gold, but with him 
had gone, too, the spirit of discovery and adventure. 
Narvaez' party wanted only gold. 

The tidings of these big preparations swept through 
all the islands of the West Indian group, and came to 
the ears of the Friars' Commission in St. Domingo, 
which had given Velasquez and Cortes their right to 
explore Mexico. The commission objected seriously 
to another large private expedition setting out for 
Mexico, and sent one of their number, a clever and reso- 
lute man named Ayllon, to Velasquez to remonstrate. 

When Ayllon came to Cuba, Velasquez was off in the 



174 THE BOYS' PRESCOTT 

far corner of the island looking up his ships, and Ayllon 
had to go after him. He stated clearly the commis- 
sion's views. 

"The conquest of a powerful country like Mexico," 
he said, "requires the whole force of the Spaniards, and 
if one half is employed against the other, nothing but 
ruin can come of it. It is the governor's duty, as a 
good subject, to forego all private animosities, and to 
sustain those now engaged in the great work by sending 
them the necessary supplies. You may, indeed, pro- 
claim your own powers and demand obedience to them. 
But, if this is refused, it will be better to leave the de- 
termination of the dispute to the authorized tribunals 
and to employ your resources in prosecuting discovery 
in another direction instead of hazarding all by hostih- 
ties with your rival." 

This charge was most displeasing to Velasquez. "I 
have no intention," he said, "of coming to hostilities 
with Cortes. I mean only to assert my lawful juris- 
diction over territories discovered under my own aus- 
pices. At the same time, I deny your right, or that of 
the commission, to interfere in the matter." 

Narvaez was even more stiff-necked than Velasquez. 
He said the fleet was ready and he was going to sail. 
As Ayllon could not hold back the expedition, he de- 
cided to go along with it to prevent, if possible, fighting 
between Cortes and Narvaez. 

The squadron consisting of eighteen vessels carried 
a thousand Indians and nine hundred Spaniards; eighty 
cavalry, eighty arquebusiers and one hundred and fifty 
crossbow-men among the number. It had also large 
quantities of stores and ammunition and several heavy 
guns. 



NEW EXPEDITION OF VELASQUEZ 175 

The fleet sailed early in March, and Narvaez, hold- 
ing much the same course that Cortes had taken, 
anchored on April 23rd off San Juan de Ulua, Cortes' 
first landing-place, near the modern Vera Cruz. From 
there he went to Cempoalla. 

Soon after his landing, Narvaez met one of the men 
sent by Cortes to explore the mining facilities of the 
country. He, as ready to talk as Narvaez was to hsten, 
told the whole long storj^ of Cortes' exploits, ending 
with the occupation of Mexico and Cortes' supreme 
power there. "Cortes rules over the country like its 
own sovereign," he finished, "so that a Spaniard may 
travel unarmed from one end of the country to the other 
without insult or injurj^" 

The newcomers listened open-mouthed to this won- 
derful tale. It made Narvaez more than ever deter- 
mined to snatch from Cortes the rich prize he had 
won. 

Narvaez announced at once that he was going to 
march against Cortes. This proclamation greatly 
astonished the Indians, who thought all white men were 
brothers. Before, however, Narvaez started on his 
march to Mexico, he decided to send messengers to the 
colony at Villa Rica to demand the surrender to him- 
self of that town. 

Ayllon saw how incapable he was after all to prevent 
hostihties between Cortes and Narvaez. He implored 
and rebuked and threatened, but he could not change 
the plans of Narvaez, who, indeed, grew so tired in time 
of his protests that he put Ayllon on a ship and sent 
him back to Cuba. Ayllon persuaded the captain of 
the vessel to land him at St. Domingo, where he has- 
tened to the Commission with his story. They were 



176 THE BOYS' PRESCOTT 

not long in getting off to Spain news of the disobedient 
conduct of Velasquez and Narvaez. 

As soon as Narvaez' fleet had neared the coast, Sando- 
val, commander of Vera Cruz, had sighted it with dis- 
trust. He at once sent the wounded men under his 
care back into the country to a place of safety and put 
the city into a state of defense against any invader. 
His men promised to stand by him, and to hold them 
to their promise, he erected a gallows in the middle of 
the town and said he would hang on it any man who 
failed him. 

Instead of bringing his army to Vera Cruz, however, 
Narvaez, as we have seen, quartered at Cempoalla and 
sent to Sandoval five envoys to demand the city's sur- 
render. One of the five was a priest named Guevara. 

Guevara came before Sandoval with a pompous 
speech which began with the virtues and rights of Ve- 
lasquez; went on to the wickedness and rebellion of 
Cortes; and ended with a formal demand to Sandoval 
to submit to Narvaez, who had come with all legal pow- 
ers — and plenty of soldiers — to take Cortes' place. 

This speech roused in Sandoval nothing but anger. 
"If you were not a priest," he told Guevara, "you 
should be soundly flogged." 

At that, Guevara, as angry as Sandoval, called on 
the notary in the party to read the proclamation of 
Narvaez' rights. 

"If you read it," Sandoval repeated, "you will get 
the flogging the priest escaped." 

Guevara, too angry to speak for a moment, stamped 
on the ground. Then he ordered the notary to go on. 

Sandoval was a man of deeds rather than of words. 
"If the proclamation must be read, Cortes is the man 



NEW EXPEDITION OF VELASQUEZ 177 

to hear it," he said shortly, and immediately told off a 
guard of twenty of his men, summoned five stout In- 
dian porters, and without ceremony bound the five en- 
voys Hke bales of cotton to the porters' backs. 

"Now," he said, "to Mexico! Let the proclamation 
be read to Cortes. Do not stop till you reach the 
general." 



CHAPTER XXI 

CORTES GOES BACK TO CEMPOALLA 

1520 

WHILE the five envoys were being rushed 
in this strange manner through the country, 
stopping only long enough to change por- 
ters at the relay stations, Cortes was awaiting them in 
much anxiety. 

He knew of Narvaez' arrival almost as soon as it 
occurred, for Montezuma's postmen had brought to the 
Emperor the picture letters of the white ships, and he 
had sent for Cortes. 

"There is no longer any obstacle," he said, "to your 
leaving the country, as a fleet is now ready for you," 
and he showed to Malinche the picture-writing news- 
paper which told the story of the fleet and its mariners. 

In spite of his anxiety, Cortes hid his feelings. 
"Thank heaven for its mercies !" he exclaimed, and hur- 
ried back to his men. 

They were in commotion at once at the thought of 
comrades come to help them ; they shouted and fired the 
cannon in their joy. But Cortes called his officers to 
consultation and shared with them his fears that the 
newcomers, instead of being friends, were sent from 
Velasquez to oust them from the position they had won. 
Joy turned to consternation as these ideas finally began 
to find their way through the quarters. If, in addition 
to dealing with the restive Aztecs, they must also fight 

178 



CORTES GOES BACK TO CEMPOALLA 170 

a body of their oAvn countrymen, it would give them 
plenty to do. But in spite of the dark outlook, the 
men swore to stand true to Cortes and the cause he 
represented; their yeav in Anahuac had turned them 
into seasoned veterans. 

After four days' travel on the porters' backs up the 
mountains to Mexico, the dazed envoys, not laiowing 
whether they were sleeping or waking, arrived outside 
the City of Mexico. One of Sandoval's guards left the 
men there to recover their senses and carried in to 
Cortes the letter from Sandoval. 

At once Cortes sent five horses to the envoys that 
they might enter the city in a manner more dignified 
than that in which they had ascended the mountains. 
He met them when they arrived with great courtesy, 
apologized for the discomfort they had endured, and 
with his usual tact soothed their indignation. Then he 
made so many presents to Guevara and his companions 
that they began to wonder if Cortes might not make 
a better master than Narvaez. 

Wlien they were in this amiable frame of mind, 
Cortes began to draw from them the designs of Nar- 
vaez and the feeling of his soldiers. Guevara frankly 
said that the newcomers had no desire to fight Cortes' 
men; it was only Narvaez who had hard feelings to- 
ward Cortes; what the men wanted was gold and the 
leader who could give them most of it. Narvaez was 
stingy and arrogant; none of his men had for him any 
personal affection. 

Cortes left the envoys to rest themselves after their 
hard journey while he wrote a conciliatory answer to 
ISTarvaez' letter. 

"Do not," he begged, "proclaim our animosity to the 



180 THE BOYS' PRESCOTT 

world and, by kindling a spirit of insubordination in 
the natives, unsettle all that has been so far secured. 
A violent collision would be prejudicial even to the 
victor, and might be fatal to both. It is only in union 
that we can look for success. I am ready to greet you 
as a brother in arms, to share with you the fruits of 
conquest, and, if you can produce a royal commission, 
to submit to your authority." Cortes was pretty sure 
that Narvaez had no royal commission in his charge. 

After Guevara and the other four envoys had started 
back to the coast in a more comfortable fashion and a 
much better humor than they had come up, Cortes de- 
termined to send to Narvaez Father Ohnedo as a 
special messenger of his own with a second letter much 
like the first. He sent also a letter to Ayllon — not 
knowing that he had been sent home— and still another 
letter to Duero, who had, we remember, in 1518 induced 
Velasquez to choose Cortes to lead the first expedition 
and had himself invested some money in it. He had 
come now with Narvaez on this second voyage. Father 
Olmedo was told to talk privately to all these persons, 
as well as to ISTarvaez' officers and men in general, to see 
if some way could not be found to come to a peaceable 
settlement. To help on his work, the father was given 
a quantity of gold. 

While Olmedo was still journeying, Guevara reached 
Cempoalla and gave Cortes' letter to Narvaez. He 
took it with a look of contempt, which changed to anger 
as he read. He grew only more angry as Guevara 
praised Cortes and told of his power and wealth, urging 
ISTarvaez to join the two parties under the one leader, 
instead of trying to depose a leader who was invincible. 

Narvaez' soldiers listened eagerly to all that the five 



CORTES GOES BACK TO CEMPOALLA 181 

envoys had to say. They wanted gold, and Cortes had 
it in his keeping. He was free, too, in scattering it. 

"See how Narvaez keeps all he gets tight in his own 
clutches," grumbled the men. "How much better a 
leader Cortes would be than Narvaez I" 

To this divided camp Olmedo, a little later, came 
with his wise tongue, his gold-lined pockets, and his 
general's letter. Narvaez received this letter with even 
greater anger than the first, and one of the chief officers 
threatened to cut off the priest's ears. But the stout- 
hearted father went on his way, talking to captains and 
soldiers and lightening his pockets of their gold, until 
a party formed who did not see where they would find 
much advantage to themselves in upholding Narvaez 
against Cortes. 

"When Narvaez found out what was going on, he was 
for clapping Father Olmedo into irons, but Duero re- 
strained him. Narvaez, however, sent the father back 
to Mexico, thinking thus to be rid of him. But though 
the priest went, his words and his gold stayed behind 
to preach after he was gone. 

Then Narvaez tried to join to his party Leon, who 
was in the neighborhood with the hundred and fifty men 
whom Cortes had sent out to find a colonizing spot on 
the seacoast. Leon was a relative of Velasquez and 
had once been so opposed to Cortes that, while the gen- 
eral was receiving his new commission at Villa Rica, 
Leon had been imprisoned in the fleet. He had long 
since forgiven Cortes that act and was his fast friend. 
Nor did he waver now in his fidelity to his general. To 
Narvaez' reminder of Leon's relationship to Velasquez, 
which made it Leon's duty to join, with his hundred 
and fifty men, this latest expedition that Velasquez had 



182 THE BOYS' PRESCOTT 

sent out, Leon's answer was to turn his face toward 
Mexico to go back for Cortes' orders. Cortes sent him 
word to wait at Cholula for his coming, and Leon 
obeyed. The power Cortes had to make people love 
him and hold to him did for him what force could not 
have done. 

Cortes, when he sent word for Leon to wait at Cho- 
lula, sent also for a reenforcement of two thousand In- 
dians from a tribe in that vicinity who used in battle, 
with deadly results, a long double-headed spear. 
Cortes ordered for his own troops three hundred of 
these lances, tipped with copper, for he knew they 
would carry more fear to his Spanish enemies than 
would the firearms to which they were accustomed. 

Sandoval at Vera Cruz, in the meantime, through 
deserters from Narvaez' camp and through the Indian 
spies whom he kept there, knew all that Narvaez did. 
He was told that Narvaez meant to march to Mexico 
to free Montezuma and seize Cortes; that the Cem- 
poallans were befriending the newcomers, and that 
Montezuma was sending them gifts. As fast as these 
facts came to Sandoval, he sent them on to Cortes, im- 
ploring him to come to the defense of Vera Cruz before 
it fell into Narvaez' hands. 

Cortes in Mexico weighed the tidings with his usual 
clear judgment. There were three courses to choose 
from; he might stay where he was until Narvaez at- 
tacked him; he might abandon Mexico entirely and go 
down to Vera Cruz to fight it out with Narvaez; or he 
might try to do both things — ^hold Mexico with half his 
army, while he took the other half down to oppose the 
new Spanish force. 

Those who knew Cortes would be sure that this last 



CORTES GOES BACK TO CEMPOALLA 183 

would be his course, and it was. Although he had a 
few days before considered his whole force scarcely 
large enough to hold the city against the growing un- 
friendhness of the Aztecs, deliberately he now cut that 
force in two, and prepared to leave half of it in Alva- 
rado's charge to hold Mexico, while with the other half 
he himself marched against Narvaez to take him by 
surprise. 

Cortes did not usually make a mistake in his men, 
but when he chose Alvarado to take his place in 
Tenochtitlan at this disturbed moment, he made ready 
the third event which helped to bring the melancholy 
night. The Christian chapel on the temple area, the 
runaway sailor, Alvarado — all had a share in over- 
throwing the power Cortes had so carefully built up in 
Mexico. 

Cortes gave Alvarado strict commands. He was to 
be moderate and forbearing; to pay all respect to the 
customs and prejudices of the Aztecs; and, while he 
treated Montezuma with all deference, to guard him 
carefully. From Montezuma, Cortes extracted a 
promise to behave in the general's absence as he did 
when he was in Mexico ; and Cortes with his httle band 
started down to meet Narvaez. 

He had left behind him with Alvarado two-thirds of 
the Spanish army, all the artillery, most of the horse 
and the larger part of the arquebusiers. He took with 
him only seventy men, but they were all his devoted 
adherents and the bravest of the whole force. They 
carried little baggage and light arms, for Cortes wished 
to fall with the swiftness of a thunderbolt upon the 
unsuspecting Narvaez. 

Escorted as far as the causeway by Alvarado's force 



184 THE BOYS' PRESCOTT 

and by Montezuma — somewhat bewildered as to why 
white men should fight white men — Cortes marched out 
of the city about the middle of May, 1520. The sol- 
diers had been six months in Mexico and felt as if they 
were leaving home. They went out by the southern 
causeway, the dyke of Iztapalapan by which they had 
entered in November, then on across the fertile valley 
of Mexico, over the mountains, between the two huge 
volcanoes — Popocatepetl and Iztaccihuatl — and on 
down the bleak mountain sides to the fruitful plain of 
Cholula. They did not stop this time to consider cold 
or heat or any other hardship. They had their work 
ahead and were anxious to accomplish it. 

At Cholula Cortes found Leon and his men waiting 
as he had directed. The general was glad, indeed, to 
add this force to his small army and to count Leon 
among the number. 

They did not linger in Cholula to tell each other sto- 
ries of their adventures since they had been separated. 
Quickly they marched through the streets, still black- 
ened by the fires of the massacre, and took the road to 
Tlascala. Before they reached Tlascala they met 
Father Olmedo and his party coming back from their 
expedition to Narvaez. 

Father Olmedo gave to Cortes Narvaez' letter, which 
announced that he was captain-general of the country 
and called upon Cortes to appear at once before him 
to recognize his authority. Father Olmedo told Cortes 
that most of the soldiers were unwilling to come to 
blows with Cortes' men, and that they considered 
Cortes, with his many presents, a better leader than 
their own general. Narvaez himself, the father said, 
was so puffed up with vanity as to his own strength 



CORTES GOES BACK TO CEMPOALLA 185 

that he was taking no care whatever to guard against 
an attack from Cortes. 

Cheered by this news, Cortes, taking the priest's 
party with him, went on to Tlascala. He was received 
there in friendly fashion, though he lingered only long 
enough to add to his party six hundred recruits and put 
the treasure Leon had gathered into the charge of some 
wounded soldiers, who were to guard it in Tlascala till 
they were well enough to carry it to Mexico. The 
Tlascalan recruits did not stay with Cortes long. The 
march had scarcely begun before, one by one, they 
di'opped away and returned home, until so few were 
left that Cortes sent them back too, saying good- 
naturedly that he would rather part with them there 
than in the hour of trial. The Tlascalans were ready 
enough to fight the Aztecs, but they did not care to 
face white men and their fire-arms again. 

Soon after he left Tlascala Cortes met Sandoval with 
sixty of his men and several deserters from Narvaez' 
army. Sandoval had been obliged to make a long cir- 
cuit, through thick forests and over wild mountains, in 
order not to meet Narvaez before joining forces with 
Cortes. Besides Sandoval, Cortes met here the Span- 
iards who had been sent for the copper-tipped lances; 
he distributed them at once among the men and taught 
them how to use them. 

Cortes now reviewed his army. It consisted of two 
hundred and sixty-one foot and five horse. Muskets 
and crossbows were scarce, the armor of quilted cotton 
showed its long service in the many holes and rents. 
But every soldier carried a stout heart beneath his 
tunic, and that counts for more than either armor or 
weapons. They knew the country and the methods of 



186 THE BOYS' PRESCOTT 

savage warfare, and, better still, they knew that their 
leader had carried them always to victory and never to 
defeat. With gay hearts the little army went on down 
the mountain-side till it came to the warm lands of the 
seacoast. 

About fifty miles from Cempoalla, where Narvaez 
was camped, they met Guevara and Duero, who were 
bringing another letter from Narvaez. Cortes was 
glad to see Duero again, and the two men greeted each 
other warmly. 

This second letter from ISTarvaez was a little less se- 
vere than the first. He still demanded that Cortes 
should acknowledge his supreme authority, but he of- 
fered the use of his ships to carry back to Cuba any of 
Cortes' men who wished to go. 

"You are in a desperate condition," Duero said. 
"Your only chance of safety lies in accepting these 
terms. For however valiant your men may be, how 
can they expect to face a force so superior in numbers 
and equipment?" 

But Cortes was not to be turned from his purpose 
even by the advice of a friend. 

"If Narvaez bears a royal commission," he answered, 
"I will readily submit to him. But he has produced 
none. He is a deputy of my rival, Velasquez. For 
myself, I am a servant of the King; I have conquered 
the country for him; and for him, I and my brave fel- 
lows will defend it, be assured, to the last drop of our 
blood. If we fail, it will be glory enough to have per- 
ished in the discharge of our duty." 

Then he went on to show Duero that the money 
Duero had put into the first expedition could only be 
returned to him with interest if Cortes succeeded in his 



%.. 



CORTES GOES BACK TO CEMPOALLA 187 

undertaking. Cortes told his friend that he no longer 
held his commission from Velasquez, as he had resigned 
that months before and had received a new appointment 
as captain-general from the city council of Vera Cruz, 
which acted in the interests of the King. He was 
therefore not compelled to recognize Velasquez' author- 
ity or any one sent by Velasquez. 

Cortes sent back to Narvaez a letter in which Cortes 
in his turn commanded Narvaez to appear before him 
as captain-general of the country. He knew that all 
these negotiations were useless, but they would keep 
Xarvaez occupied till Cortes should have time to strike. 

Duero went back to camp rather shaken in his views. 
He had come to help Narvaez, but it looked now much 
more to his interest to help Cortes. He gave to Nar- 
vaez in CempoaUa Cortes' letter, but while Narvaez 
was reading it, the envoys were pouring into the eager 
ears of their comrades their admiration for Cortes and 
the riches of his men, who wore over their ragged, 
quilted doublets heavy collars of gold and golden chains 
long enough to wind several times around their body. 
The soldiers listened with keen ears. Cortes was cer- 
tamty the general for a soldier to serve under. 

And so, before Cortes ever met his foes, they were 
already half-conquered. 




CHAPTER XXII 

COKTES CRUSHES NARVAEZ 
1520 

'HEN the envoys had gone back to Narvaez, 
Cortes' army followed them down over the 
plains of the warm lands, with the gay, 
sweet flowers and towering trees, until they came to a 
little river called "The River of Canoes," about three 
miles from Cempoalla. This was usually a small 
stream, but was now so swollen by the rain that had 
fallen all day that it was hard to find a ford. It was 
ahnost dusk, and Cortes allowed his men a little rest 
before they searched out a way to cross the river. 

The rain had stopped for the time, but the moon 
shone interruptedly through such thick clouds that it 
was certain the storm was not yet over. Cortes was 
not sorry. He meant to attack Narvaez that very 
night, and the rush and roar of a thunder-storm would 
be a good cover for his movements. 

When the soldiers were rested, Cortes roused them to 
listen to what he had to say to them. He went over all 
the difficulties they had faced since they had entered the 
country, the victories they had won and the riches they 
had gained. 

"And of all this," he said, "you are now to be de- 
frauded; not by men holding a legal warrant from the 
crown, but by adventurers, with no better title than 
that of superior force. You have estabhshed a claim 

188 



CORTES CRUSHES NARVAEZ 189 

on the gratitude of your country and your sovereign. 
This claim is now to be dishonored, your very services 
are to be converted into crimes, and your names 
branded with infamy as those of traitors. But the time 
has at last come for vengeance. God will not desert 
the soldier of the Cross. Those whom He has carried 
victorious through greater dangers, will not be left to 
fail now. And, if we should fail, better to die like 
brave men on the field of battle than, with fame and 
fortune cast away, to perish ignominiously like slaves 
on the gibbet." 

The hint about ISTarvaez and his gallows was not lost 
on any of the soldiers, though they did not need fear to 
stir them to loyalty. 

"If we fail," Leon cried, "it shall not be our fault, 
for where you lead, we will follow." 

Cortes received their promise with his usual good 
comi'adeship. He did not say anything to them about 
the hkehhood of Narvaez' men coming over to his ban- 
ners, for he wanted his soldiers to rely only on their own 
courage. 

"To-night," he said, "we attack Narvaez." 

The soldiers, tired as they were with their long 
march, received the news with joy and listened eagerly 
to Cortes' orders. He gave to Sandoval, as governor 
of Vera Cruz, the task of capturing Narvaez, and 
detailed sixty picked men to Sandoval's command. 
Christoval de Olid's force were to seize the artillery and 
thus draw off attention from Sandoval's efforts. Cor- 
tes himself headed twenty men who were to be ready 
for anything that offered. As it was Whit- Sunday, 
Cortes chose '"Espiritu Santo" for the watchword. 

In the meantime Narvaez had been spending idle 



100 THE BOYS' PRESCOTT 

days in Cempoalla, until finally an old chief roused him. 

"Why are you so heedless?" he asked. "Do you 
think Malinche is so? Depend on it, he knows your 
situation exactly, and when you least dream of it he 
will be upon you." 

That stirred ISTarvaez. On the very day that Cortes 
and his men were marching down through the rain to 
the River of Canoes on one side, ISTarvaez was marching 
toward it through the rain on the other side. When 
Narvaez reached the River of Canoes the rain was pour- 
ing in bucketsful. There was no sign anywhere of 
an enemy, and the soldiers grumbled at their soaked, 
uncomfortable condition. 

"Of what use is it," they murmured, "to remain here 
fighting with the elements, when there is little reason 
to apprehend the approach of an enemy in such tem- 
pestuous weather. It will be wiser to return to Cem- 
poalla, and in the morning we shall all be fresh for 
action, should Cortes make his appearance." 

Narvaez himself was wet enough to listen to the men. 
He stationed two sentinels near the river, and sent a 
body of forty horse along the river bank in the direction 
that he thought Cortes might come. Then with his 
army he went thankfully back to Cempoalla and to his 
dry quarters in one of the sanctuaries on top of the 
main temple of Cempoalla, where he fortified himself 
with arquebusiers and crossbow-men. His artillery 
was in the court below, protected by his cavalry. 
Other smaller temples were also fortified with infantry. 
After Narvaez had looked to see that all was in order, 
he went to bed and to sleep as calmly as if he had never 
heard of Cortes, 




'In spite of the storm, the whole army went down on their knees" 

~Page 191 



CORTES CRUSHES NARVAEZ 191 

Cortes, however, was not far away. Although the 
storm had turned the Httle river by this time into a 
fierce torrent, still, using their long copper-tipped 
spears as staffs, the little force managed to get across. 
Here they met new difficulties, for the storm and dark- 
ness made it almost impossible to keep the road, which, 
poor at its best, was now only a miry pit. 

Suddenly, as they struggled through the mud and 
briars, they came upon a cross which they themselves 
had raised before they went to Mexico. They greeted 
it as a blessing from heaven. In spite of the storm, 
the whole army went down on their knees while good 
Father Olmedo pronounced absolution and prayed for 
help for "the warriors who had consecrated their swords 
to the glory of the cross." 

Inspirited, they arose, ready for what lay ahead. 
Cortes ordered that the horses should be fastened under 
some trees which would shelter them from the rain and 
the baggage left beside them. Then he spoke words of 
encouragement. 

"Everything," he said, "depends on obedience. Let 
no man, from desire of distinguishing himself, break his 
ranks. On silence, despatch, and, above all, obedience 
to your officers, the success of our enterprise depends." 

Strictly obedient, with no sound of drum or trumpet, 
the little army went on its way, till it came, without 
warning, on Narvaez' two sentinels. One they seized, 
but the other escaped and fled back to Cempoalla. 

Annoyed that he could not now take his enemy by 
surprise, Cortes lingered a few moments to try and 
get information from the sentinel he had captured. As 
he found the man would not speak, even with a noose 



192 THE BOYS' PRESCOTT 

around his neck, Cortes wasted no more time, but at a 
rapid pace followed the sentinel who had escaped into 
Cempoalla. 

The sentinel had burst into camp, crying, "The 
enemy is upon us!" The sleepy soldiers, wakened 
against their will, looked and listened. As they heard 
and saw nothing, they went to sleep again. Even Nar- 
vaez, when he roused, could not believe the sentinel. 

"You have been deceived by your fears," he said, 
"and mistaken the noise of the storm and the waving 
of the bushes for the enemy. Cortes and his men are 
far enough on the other side of the river, which they 
will be slow to cross in such a night." 

"You'll be sorry," answered the sentinel surlily to his 
mates, and went to his own bed. 

A few minutes later Cortes approached Cempoalla. 
The first thing he saw through the blaclsness of the 
night was the light burning high in the air in the temple 
sanctuary, which Duero had told him Narvaez used as 
his headquarters. 

"That light must be your beacon," Cortes said to 
Sandoval. "It is the quarters of Narvaez." 

The Spaniards, knowing the sentinel had been be- 
fore them, entered the city with the greatest caution, 
listening each instant for the alarm. They heard only 
their own footsteps, however, and even that sound was 
almost smothered by the crashing rain and howling 
wind. 

They had reached the center of the city before Nar- 
vaez' men perceived them. Instantly all was action in 
camp. The trumpets, sounding to arms, sent the dra- 
goons to their horses and the artillery men to their guns. 
Narvaez, in his high tower, hastily budded on his armor 



CORTES CRUSHES NARVAEZ 193 

and put himself at the head of his men on the flat temple 
area. 

Cortes' army advanced along the avenue that led to 
the temple, stealing close to the buildings on each side 
to escape the cannon balls that raked the avenue. 
Then, before the gunners could reload, ^'Espiritu 
Santo! Upon them!" Cortes cried, and his men made 
their final rush. 

In an instant Olid and part of his men had engaged 
the artillery and got possession of the guns, while an- 
other division attacked the cavalry. Under cover of 
this confusion Sandoval, with his brave little band, 
stormed the staircase of the temple terraces. 

He was met by a shower of arrows and musket balls 
from above, but in the darkness they went wild and 
wounded no one. Through these flying missiles San- 
doval's men sprang up the steps and in a moment were 
on the flat area. Narvaez was wide awake now, ready 
to receive them. He fought bravely, but his short 
sword counted little against Sandoval's long pikes and 
he received wound after wound. At last one of the 
pikes struck his eye. 

"I am slain!" he cried, and Sandoval's men, catching 
the words, shouted "Victory!" 

But Narv^aez was not taken yet. His men carried 
him into the sanctuary and beat back every attempt to 
break through the door, until finally a soldier, by throw- 
ing a torch up to the thatched roof, set it ablaze. The 
fire sent out so much smoke that Narvaez was driven 
out again to the temple area, where he was speedily cap- 
tured by one of Sandoval's men. When his army 
heard that he was taken, they surrendered. 

While this had been occurring on the temple heights, 



194 THE BOYS' PRESCOTT 

Cortes and Olid, struggling against the cavalry in the 
courtyard below, had done as effectual work. The 
cavalry, unable to break through the hedge of long 
spears, had soon yielded. As the garrisons of the 
smaller temples in the courtyard refused to lay down 
their arms, Cortes had turned against them their own 
guns which Olid had captured. After one volley all 
the garrisons capitulated. Doubtless Father Olmedo's 
gold had something to do with this easy victory, though 
the soldiers' own fears were largely responsible. The 
air was full that night of big, tropical fireflies, which 
the excited soldiers of Narvaez took for a whole army 
of matchlocks. 

When the last fort had yielded and Narvaez had been 
captured, back came the body of cavalry which Narvaez 
had sent up the river to intercept Cortes. They also 
surrendered. Each soldier was obliged to give up his 
arms and to swear allegiance to Cortes as captain-gen- 
eral of the colony. 

Thus in a few hours Cortes, with a little band of 
ragged men, hungry and wearied out by forced 
marches, having few weapons and military stores,' had 
attacked in its own camp a force well armed and 
equipped, three times the size of his own, and had come 
off completely victorious. His soldiers went wild over 
their achievement. 

"While the air rung with the acclamations of the sol- 
diery, the victorious general, assuming a deportment 
corresponding with his change of fortune, took his seat 
in a chair of state, and, with a rich, embroidered mantle 
thrown over his shoulders, received, one by one, the of- 
ficers and soldiers, as they came to tender their con- 
gratulations. The privates were graciously permitted 



CORTES CRUSHES NARVAEZ 195 

to kiss his hand. The officers he noticed with words of 
comphment or courtesy; and, when Duero, Bermudez, 
the treasurer, and some others of the vanquished party, 
his old friends, presented themselves, he cordially em- 
braced them." (Prescott's "Conquest of Mexico.") 

When this ceremony of congratulation from his own 
officers was over, Narvaez and some of his generals were 
led before Cortes. 

"You have great reason, Sefior Cortes," Narvaez 
said, "to thank fortune for having given you the day so 
easily and put me in your power." 

"I have much to be thankful for," Cortes answered 
grandly, "but for my victory over you, I esteem it as 
one of the least of my achievements since coming into 
the country." 



CHAPTER XXIII 

WHAT ALVAKADO DID IN TENOCHTITLAN 
1520 

THE sun rose next morning on an earth swept 
clean. The storm of the heavens and the storm 
of battle were over; only their havoc remained. 

Narvaez and his chief generals were sent at once 
under a strong guard to Vera Cruz, where they were 
held as prisoners through the months that followed. 
Cortes set to work to win to his standard Narvaez' men, 
who were a little inclined to be sullen when the morn- 
ing light showed them that they had been frightened 
into yielding their guns and horses and accouterments 
to such a handful of gaunt, worn men. To gain these 
strangers, Cortes risked the displeasure of his own vet- 
erans, who were proudly displaying this morning the 
horses and arms they had won in their night attack. 
Cortes distributed aniong Narvaez' men the gold found 
in Narvaez' quarters, and commanded that every horse 
and every weapon taken by his own men should be 
given back to its rightful owner. 

"They are now embarked in our cause," he said, "and 
we must share with one another equally." 

His troops heard these orders with surprise and dis- 
gust. Should not the spoil be theirs? And should 
they, who had made long marches with weary legs, now, 
just as they had acquired horses to bestride, be obhged 

196 



WHAT ALVARADO DID 197 

to give them up again? They flocked to Father 01- 
medo with their complaints. 

"Our commander," they cried, "has forsaken his 
friends for his foes. We stood by him in his hour of 
distress, and are rewarded with blows and wounds, 
while the spoil goes to our enemies." 

Father Olmedo carried the remonstrance to Cortes, 
who listened with a sigh. Whichever way he turned 
there were perplexities to be straightened out. Once 
more he called the soldiers together. 

"Our new comrades," he said, "are formidable from 
their numbers, so much so, that we are even now much 
more in their power than they are in ours. Our only 
security is to make them not only confederates, but 
friends. On any cause of disgust, we shall have the 
whole battle to fight over again, and, if they are united, 
under a much greater disadvantage than before, I 
have considered your interests as much as my own. 
All that I have is yours. But why should there be any 
ground for discontent, when the whole country, with 
its riches, is before us? And our augmented strength 
must henceforth secure the undisturbed control of it." 

The soldiers obeyed, though with some grmubling. 
In a few days even that was forgotten, for the news 
that came from Mexico made every one bury personal 
grievances. 

Cortes had had proof of Alvarado's cruelty and rash- 
ness when, in the island of Cozumel, on the first landing 
of the Spaniards, Alvarado — left a little while in 
charge of camp — had gone into the native temples and 
stolen their treasures, stirring the island at once against 
the white men. Cortes had had little patience with 
Alvarado then, but perhaps he thought that in the 



198 THE BOYS' PRESCOTT 

months between that time and this he had learned more 
cahn wisdom. At any rate, relying on Alvarado's 
courage and on his personal friendship, he had left him 
in supreme control in Mexico with a garrison of a hun- 
dred and forty men. 

It was May, the month that the Aztecs each year 
had, in honor of their war god, a festival called Tlie 
incensing of Huitzilopotchli^ in which they sacrificed 
and danced and sang. After Cortes had left Tenoch- 
titlan, and the time came for this May festival, the 
Aztec nobles asked of Alvarado permission to hold it 
in the temple court as usual. They asked, too, that 
Montezuma might come to it. Alvarado denied that 
request, but allowed them to hold the festival in the 
courtyard on condition that there should be no human 
sacrifices. 

The Aztec nobles — six hundred of them — assembled 
on the appointed day, dressed in their holiday clothes — 
gay cotton tunics, feather cloaks sprinkled with pre- 
cious stones, and bracelets and collars of gold. They 
danced to their wild, uncivilized musical instruments 
and they sang their religious war chants. Alvarado 
and his soldiers, fully armed, were standing as onlook- 
ers by the temple gate or mixing with the throng itself. 

And then, without warning, happened one of the 
most cruel and bloodthirsty and impolitic acts of his- 
tory. As the Aztec nobles danced through their cele- 
bration, Alvarado and his men drew their weapons and 
rushed on them. The Indians, unarmed, taken by sur- 
prise, shut in the courtj^ard like beasts in a pen, had not 
the slightest chance to fight for their lives or even to 
escape. They tried to climb the walls, and they were 
shot; they tried to run out at the gateways, but they 



WHAT ALVARADO DID 199 

ran against the long pikes of the Spanish soldiers. 
Not one merry-maker was left alive, and there was 
scarcely a noble house in all Tenochtitlan that had not 
some one to mourn for that night. While the natives 
mourned their slain, the Spaniards were stealing from 
the murdered men their bracelets and jewels. 

Though it was a quick, short deed, its consequences 
were long and terrible. When the news ran through 
the city that six hundred of the young, valiant nobles 
had been massacred by the Spaniards, men at first could 
not believe it. Then, as the deed was proved, all the 
enmity and resentment which their loyalty to Monte- 
zuma had kept in check swelled up to expression and 
cried for vengeance. We may be sure that Guate- 
mozin felt that his time had come. He did not waste 
the opportunity. 

Before the Spaniards could fortify themselves in 
their palace courtyard, the Aztecs, armed to a man, 
were upon them, undermining the walls, throwing fire- 
brands in on the roofs, until the Spaniards, alarmed, 
asked Montezuma to intercede for them. 

It was a singular request from men who had just 
murdered the flower of Montezuma's nobihty, but the 
monarch, true to Malinche, came out upon the battle- 
ments. With dignified words he urged the mad crowd 
without to stay their assault or he, too, might be injured 
in the fighting. 

They listened to him, and for his safety's sake gave 
up the attack, but not their desire for vengeance on the 
Spaniards. They drew back into the square, threw up 
earthworks around the palace, stopped the market so 
that the Spaniards could obtain no supplies, burned the 
two brigantines, and sat down to a regular siege. 



200 THE BOYS' PRESCOTT 

The Spaniards inside the Spanish fortifications were 
in an exceedingly uncomfortable position. A hundred 
and forty men, far from their friends, with scant pro- 
visions and no means of getting more, shut up in an 
inland Venice, which they could leave only by permis- 
sion of their enemies, and surrounded by thousands and 
thousands of savages who never meant them to leave 
alive — it was not a reassuring situation. Alvarado got 
out a messenger to tell Cortes of their plight and then 
sat sullenly down to wait. He must have had many 
hours in which to consider his mad, cruel act and the 
terrible consequences. 

This was the news that came like a thunderbolt to 
Cortes as he was trying to prevent quarrels between 
his new recruits and his veterans in Cempoalla. At 
once he called the army together and told them that 
Alvarado was shut up, without food, in Tenochtitlan ; 
that the brigantines were burned, and if the Aztecs 
took up the causeway bridges and the bridges over the 
city canals, there was no escape. Without hesitation 
the army demanded to be led back to Tenochtitlan to 
rescue their comrades. 

Cortes at once started two bodies of Narvaez' troops 
under Olid and Ordaz for Tlascala, adding to each 
corps of raw recruits twenty of his veterans. He sent 
a hundred men under Rodrigo Kangre to garrison Vera 
Cruz, and took Sandoval with him, leaving the sick and 
wounded at Cempoalla to follow when they should be 
able. The cacique of Cempoalla, who had helped Cor- 
tes and then had helped Narvaez and now was ready 
to lend a haM again to Cortes, supplied him with pro- 
visions and started him on his journey. 

Back again over the familiar road to Tlascala Cortes 



WHAT ALVARADO DID 201 

led his army, greater in numbers but less strong in 
spirit than when it was only his own little band of 
intrepid veterans. The newcomers were not yet sea- 
soned to climate or hardship, and when the army 
reached the country around Tlascala, where there were 
few people and scanty provision, many of the men gave 
out. Unable to stand the forced marches under the 
hot sun, they threw themselves by the roadside, ready 
to die in their tracks. 

Cortes, in this dilemma, sent a party of horse ahead 
to Tlascala for supplies. While he waited, like Alva- 
rado, he had plenty of time to think, and ail his thoughts 
were questions as to how he could win back his lost 
position. Although in so short a time he had been cast 
from the heights of attainment down to this valley of 
despair, he had no idea of giving up. 

The Tlascalans, still Cortes' good friends, sent back 
the needed supplies. Refreshed by the food and rest, 
the weary army once more gathered its courage for the 
forward march. 



CHAPTER XXIV 

THE FURY OF THE MEXICANS 

1520 

IN pretty good shape Cortes and his army entered 
Tlascala. Maxixca, one of the fotir ruling chiefs, 
always friendly to the Spaniards, gave Cortes 
quarters in his own palace. 

So long as the war was now against the Aztecs and 
not against the Spaniards, Tlascala offered plenty of 
men. Cortes accepted two thousand recruits, which, 
added to one thousand foot and one hundred horse, 
gave him a fair army. Among his foot soldiers one 
hundred were arquebusiers and one hundred crossbow- 
men. 

The Spaniards left Tlascala this time by the more 
northerly route that led straight to the city of Tez- 
cuco. Like the road they had taken on their first en- 
trance into Mexico, it went over the Cordilleras and 
between the two big volcanoes, Popocatepetl and Iztac- 
cihuatl. They marched through forests of evergreen 
and up to the barren mountain peaks where, looking 
back, they saw the green, fertile valley stretching as 
far as Cholula, and looking forward, they saw again the 
Mexican valley, this time from the north, for the city 
of Tezcuco lay, in her cypress groves, directly below 
them. Tenochtitlan they could see across the lake with 
its shining waters and fire-topped temples. 

The Spaniards came down into the Mexican valley 

202 



THE FURY OF THE MEXICANS 203 

to a cold reception. When they had come at Monte- 
zuma's bidding they had been met by throngs of curi- 
ous, happy, welcoming people, hanging flowers around 
the horses' necks and showering presents on the Span- 
iards. Now there were no flowers and no presents, and 
when the Spaniards asked for food it was given with 
a grudging coldness. 

Tezcuco was almost empty; even Cuicuitzca whom 
Cortes himself had made King of Tezcuco when he had 
seized Cacama, was absent from his capital and not on 
hand to welcome Cortes. Cortes' veterans were much 
annoyed at these doings; thej'' had boasted to the new- 
comers of their high position in Mexico, and now were 
xmable to prove it. 

Cortes suffered more than wounded vanity. He 
was growing keenly anxious as to the fate of his gar- 
rison in Tenochtitlan, in a country as unhospitable as 
Mexico was now showing itself, when there came a mes- 
senger who had escaped in a canoe from Tenochtitlan 
and had crossed the lake to Tezcuco. 

The man brought a letter from Alvarado to Cortes, 
telhng him what we know akeady, that the Aztecs^ at 
Montezuma's request had stopped their assault on the 
palace of Axayacatl, but that they had surrounded the 
palace with earthworks and had sat down to besiege 
it, so that, when their supplies gave out, the Spanish 
garrison would be in a bad way. Alvarado begged 
Cortes to come quickly to Tenochtitlan, for he knew 
that as soon as Cortes arrived everything would be as 
peaceful as it had been before. But Alvarado was to 
find out that though it is easy to raise a tumult, it is a 
harder matter to quiet it. Montezuma also sent a mes- 
sage to Cortes urging him to come back. He protested 



204 THE BOYS' PRESCOTT 

that he had had nothing to do with the revolt and that 
it had been raised without his knowledge. 

Cortes allowed his men time for rest in Tezcuco and 
then on the 24th of June, 1520, led them down the west 
side of the lake to the southern shore where the dyke 
of Iztapalapan crossed to the City of Mexico. Here, 
too, everything was unlike their first entrance. Then 
the causeway had been crowded with people and the 
lake gay with canoes. Now there was emptiness and 
silence, the only sign of life an occasional distant canoe 
which seemed to spy upon their movements and to 
glide away the moment it was seen. 

Moodily Cortes rode on across the causeway at the 
head of his troops, wondering doubtless at the fool- 
hardy and unwise act by which Alvarado had made all 
this mischief. But he did not let his own low spirits 
affect his men. He had the trumpets sounded, and 
their clear notes carried comfort across the water to the 
Spaniards shut up in the palace of Axayacatl. They 
answered with a salute of artillery, and Cortes' men, 
breaking into quicker time, were across the drawbridge 
and once more in Tenochtitlan. 

Tenochtitlan was even more deserted than Tezcuco 
had been; the horses' hoofs echoed hollowly from the 
empty streets; in some places the small bridges had 
been removed from the canals. Cortes realized anew 
that now that his brigantines were burned, if the Aztecs 
were to raise their drawbridges in the causeway and 
destroy the small bridges that led across the canals in 
the city itself, it would not be easy to leave Tenochtit- 
lan. 

Marking quick time, the army traversed the avenue, 



THE FURY OF THE MEXICANS 205 

entered the square and reached the palace of Axayacatl. 
The gates were thrown open and Cortes' troop passed 
into the courtyard to meet the eager welcome of 
Alvarado's men. 

The general at once demanded from Alvarado the 
story of the tumult and listened with outward calm 
to Alvarado's explanations and excuses. He had 
heard rumors, he said, of an uprising among the na- 
tives and thought to act as quickly and efficiently as 
Cortes had acted at Cholula. 

Inwardly Cortes was far from calm. Angry as he 
was at Alvarado, he was angrier at himself for the 
mistake he had made in leaving Alvarado in charge of 
so delicate a situation. No one had known better than 
Cortes the temper of the Aztecs and the eternal vigi- 
lance and patience necessary to hold them under Span- 
ish authority, and no one had known better than he 
that, in attempting an act like the Massacre of Cholula, 
one must be strong enough to deal with the con- 
sequences. Alvarado had had neither the patience nor 
the strength, and Cortes reproached himself that he had 
let his own friendsliip for his captain and Alvarado's 
courage and gay manner and handsome face blind him 
to Alvarado's greed and cruelty and lack of judg- 
ment. He could scarcely have chosen a worse com- 
mander for a weak army in the heart of a not too 
friendly nation. By one turn of his hand, Alvarado 
had thrown down the entire edifice that Cortes had so 
painstakingly built up. 

When Alvarado had finished his story, Cortes' anger 
burst its bonds of self-control. 

"You have done badly," he exclaimed. "You have 



206 THE BOYS' PRESCOTT 

been false to your trust. Your conduct has been that 
of a madman." Then he turned and abruptly left the 
room. 

For the time being Cortes was a changed man. In- 
stead of his usual calm courage and gay comradeship, 
he was silent and irritable. 

The Emperor came at once to Cortes' quarters to 
welcome Malinche back. But Cortes was bad-tem- 
pered even with him. He chose to suspect Montezuma 
of stirring up the tempest and closing the market, and 
treated him so coldly that Montezuma went mournfully 
back to his own apartments. A little later he sent 
some of his nobles to ask an interview. Cortes' anger 
had grown when he saw that even his coming had not 
raised the blockade and opened the market. He 
turned angrily from the Aztec nobles to his own officers. 

"What have I to do with this dog of a king who suf- 
fers us to starve before his eyes?" he asked brutally. 

Olid, Avila and Leon protested respectfully. 

"If it had not been for the Emperor," one of them 
ventured, "the garrison might even now be over- 
whelmed by the enemy." 

The protest made Cortes only more angry. "Did 
not this dog," he cried again, "betray us in his com- 
munications with Narvaez? And does he not now suf- 
fer his markets to be closed and leave us to die of 
famine?" 

He turned fiercely again to the nobles. "Go," he 
commanded, "tell your master and his people to open 
the markets, or we will do it for them at their cost." 

The Aztec chiefs understood too well Cortes' harsh, 
contemptuous speech even if they had not much knowl- 
edge of Spanish. They went back to Montezuma, 



THE FURY OF THE MEXICANS 207 

swelling with resentment, and they did not soften, in 
repeating them, Cortes' insults. 

Gradually Cortes got more control of himself. He 
saw that he must bury his disapproval of Alvarado and 
his suspicion of Montezuma, for with all Mexico against 
them outside, they must at least keep unity within. 
He was fully convinced, too, that with his present army 
at his back, the Aztecs must finally yield to his authority 
and come back to their old friendship. 

But his new forces, which swelled his army to one 
thousand two hundred and fifty Spaniards and eight 
thousand Tlascalans, meant new hardship as well as 
new help. Cortes must fill the nine thousand two hun- 
dred and fifty mouths and, with the markets closed, 
how was he to do it? He determined to adopt Monte- 
zuma's methods and send an embassy to the assaulting 
Aztecs. By Montezuma's advice Cortes chose for his 
messenger the Emperor's brother, Cuitiahua, whom he 
had held a prisoner since he had seized him at the time 
of Cacama's capture. Cortes sent a messenger to Vera 
Cruz with an account of his safe arrival in Tenochtitlan 
and the assurance of his ability to rule even the frenzied 
Aztecs. Then he sent Cuitiahua on his errand of peace 
— to quiet his countrymen and bring them back to their 
Spanish allegiance. But Cuitiahua, free, had other 
business than urging the Mexicans to return to the 
Spanish yoke. Guatemozin was there to welcome him, 
and they gathered to their banners thousands and thou- 
sands of Aztecs stirred to their depths and thirsting for 
revenge. They did not even think of peace. Instead, 
they chose Cuitiahua as their Emperor to act in Monte- 
zuma's place as long as Montezuma was a prisoner. 
Cuitiahua, a brave and skilled soldier and a patriotic 



208 THE BOYS' PKESCOTT 

Aztec, accepted the position of honor and danger, and 
soon had his levies under command. 

Cortes had gone about his own business after he had 
sent his messenger to Vera Cruz and Cuitlahua to the 
Aztecs. An hour passed. Then stumbhng back 
across the square, ahnost dead of wounds and exhaus- 
tion and terror, came the man he had sent to Vera Cruz. 

"The city is in arms," he cried hoarsely. "The draw- 
bridges are raised. The enemy is upon us." 

With hushed breath the Spaniards listened. In the 
distance was a muffled roar that sounded like a flood 
broken loose pouring toward them. Cortes dashed up 
to the wall and, looking from the parapet that sur- 
rounded the palace courtyard, he saw the square, and 
every street leading to it, dark with the confused masses 
of Aztecs, while all the flat housetops around suddenly, 
as if by magic, were filled with warriors waving their 
weapons. Through the breach Alvarado had made, 
the flood of Aztec vengeance, in all its fury, was pour- 
ing upon the Christians. 



CHAPTER XXV 

CORTES IS BESIEGED IN THE PALACE OF AXAYACATL 

1520 

IF the savages were a sight to terrify the veterans, 
much more were they appalling to Cortes' new re- 
cruits. "On they came, with the companies, or 
irregular masses, into which the multitude was divided, 
rushing forward each in its own dense column, with 
many a gay banner displayed, and many a bright gleam 
of light reflected from helmet, arrow and spear-head, 
as they tossed about in their disorderly array. As they 
drew near the enclosure, the Aztecs set up a hideous 
yell, or rather that shrill whistle used in fight by the 
nations of Anahuac, which rose far above the sound of 
shell and atabal, and their other rude instruments of 
warhke melody. They followed this by a tempest of 
missiles — stones, darts and arrows — ^which fell thick as 
rain on the besieged, while volleys of the same kind 
descended from the crowded terraces in the neighbor- 
hood." (Prescott's "Conquest of Mexico.") 

It was impossible to take the Spaniards by surprise. 
The palace of Axayacatl was surrounded by a stone 
wall with openings at intervals for the guns and smaller 
holes for the arquebuses. The whole army, white men 
and Tlascalans, had each his assigned place and was 
drilled in strictest discipline. As soon as the trumpet 
called to arms, therefore, every man sprang to his post, 

209 



210 THE BOYS' PRESCOTT 

the guns were manned, the cavalry mounted and the 
bowmen and arquebusiers ready with their missiles. 

Cortes waited till the first column of Indians was 
within range and then opened fire. The Aztecs, grown 
used to the sound of fire-arms in peace, now saw what 
the cannon could do in war. The balls mowing 
through their ranks for a moment threw them into con- 
fusion but then, with their war-cry, they recovered and 
rushed forward over the bodies of their own men. 

They were halted again by a second volley and a 
third, but after each they rallied and pressed forward, 
shrieking their horrible cry and letting go showers of 
arrows. These did not all hit the mark, but the sav- 
ages on the flat housetops surrounding the palace 
courtyard were wonderfully placed for their murderous 
work. The stones from their slings and the arrows 
from their bows found true aim in the throng fighting 
in the courtyard beneath them. 

The Aztecs below, seeing that their fire accomplished 
nothing, pressed close to the wall and even tried to 
scale it. But the moment an Aztec head showed above 
the wall, it was met from inside by a bullet or an ar- 
row or a blow from a sharp-bladed Tlascalan club. 
Mounting on the heaped bodies of their own wounded 
and dead, the Aztecs tried again and again to climb the 
wall, but always in vain. 

Failing in this, they attempted to batter a breach in 
it. Against this, the Spaniards had no defense, as they 
could not train their guns downward and any men 
shooting from the parapet would be themselves marks 
for Aztec slings and arrows. Fortunately the walls 
were too thick for the Indian battering-rams, and they 
gave up that attempt also. 



CORTES IS BESIEGED 211 

Then they tried another plan. They swarmed up 
the outside wall as high as the gun holes, and through 
them shot into the courtyard blazing arrows that fell on 
the wooden huts of the Tlascalan allies and set them 
on fire. 

The Spaniards had scarcely enough water to drink, 
in the enclosure; there was none to spare for putting 
out flames. They heaped earth on the burning piles, 
but could not extinguish them. Finally Cortes was 
obliged to throw down a part of the wall to stop the 
fire, opening the very breach the Aztecs had tried to 
make with their battering-rams. Cortes at once 
mounted his heavy guns in the breach and set the 
arquebusiers shooting through their openings. The 
walls belched forth unceasing fire and smoke; the 
ground shook with the thunder of the artillery ; muskets 
rattled; arrows hissed; the Indians yelled their war cry. 
The peaceful palace had become Pandemonium. 

Finally darkness put a stop to the battle. The In- 
dians, true to their custom of not fighting at night, 
withdrew. There was no rest, however, for the Span- 
iards. In hourly dread of attack, they had to work all 
night to fill up the breach and mend their battered 
armor. Every once in a while an Aztec stone or an 
arrow came over the wall or a war cry shrilled from 
outside. 

Cortes, as he paced his apartment that night, was 
not thinking so much about Alvarado as about the 
Mexicans whom he had found so gentle and patient. 
Now he saw that their submission had been only re- 
pressed anger, and the more they had hidden it, the 
deeper it had gone. The Tlascalans had been fierce 
without injuries to avenge. The Aztecs, as ferocious 



212 THE BOYS' PRESCOTT 

at heart, had in their memory insult after insult to their 
Emperor and their religion. Once they had burst 
through their restraint, every last man was willing to 
die if only he might have revenge on the Spaniard. 

Determined to be the first to attack, at daylight 
Cortes had his forces under arms for a sally which 
should show the Indians that Cortes still ruled Mexico. 
The hours had but added to the number of Aztecs 
under arms. The great square itself and the entrances 
of all the large avenues leading into it were crowded 
with dark warriors, armed with slings and bows and 
spears and the terrible, heavy club set with metal 
knives. The priests ran to and fro among the com- 
panies, gesticulating and urging the Aztecs to avenge 
the insults to their gods. Instead of being a confused 
rabble, the Indians had now the dignity of regular 
troops massed in battalions, each with its own officer. 
Banners were there from every principal city in the 
valley of Mexico, showing that from all over the king- 
dom simple and noble and priest had gathered in a great 
religious war. High above the other standards was the 
royal banner of feather-work, bearing the same device 
that Montezuma had carved over the doorway of his 
palace — an eagle pouncing on an ocelot. 

As the palace gates opened for the Spaniards to pour 
out, the Indians were in motion. Cortes ordered a 
raking fire from the artillery and, under cover of the 
Indians' confusion, dashed through the open gate into 
the square at the head of his cavalry, followed by Span- 
ish and Tlascalan foot. 

The Aztecs, preparing to attack, not to be attacked, 
were too surprised to resist. For a moment they were 
helpless, crushed down by the horses' feet or caught by 



CORTES IS BESIEGED 213 

the Spanish lances. Then they fell back a little down 
the avenue to a barricade of earth and timber, from 
whose shelter they poured on the Spaniards a volley of 
arrows. 

Cortes was not to be held back by so flimsy a barrier. 
At once he ordered up the heavy guns and swept the 
street clear. Then he ordered another cavahy charge. 

But this little stoppage had given the Aztecs time to 
rally again. Fresh troops poured into the avenue from 
all the side streets, and the canals were swarming with 
warriors in canoes. Worst of all, the slingers on the 
housetops poured down a deadly fire. 

By repeated charges the Spaniards drove back the 
Indians, who were clinging to the horses' legs and try- 
ing to pull down their riders. To stop the galling fii'e 
from the housetops, Cortes ordered the Tlascalans to 
burn all the houses bordering on the great avenue, 
while he pressed on after the foe. As the canals cut 
the street into small sections and prevented the fire 
from spreading, it was late in the afternoon before the 
work was accomplished. 

The Aztecs, after all day being driven back, to rally 
only to be defeated again, by their force of numbers 
still held the field. They had lost ten men to every one 
of the Spaniards, but they could have lost one hundred 
to one and still had men left to withstand the white men, 
for all day long recruits had been pouring in from the 
countryside to fill up the vacant places. Cortes, how- 
ever, had interrupted their assault on the palace and 
had shown them again the power of Spanish firearms. 
'Now he sounded the retreat and led his tired, hungry 
men back to their quarters. 

As they went, Cortes saw in a side street his friend 



214 THE BOYS' PRESCOTT 

Duero unhorsed and desperately defending himself 
with his dagger against a number of Aztecs. The 
Spaniards were brave in facing death, but shuddered 
before what they knew would befall them if they were 
captured by the Indians. Cortes, shouting his war cry, 
dashed against the group of Aztecs. They fled at his 
coming, and Cortes recaptured Duero's horse and 
helped him to mount, and then the two galloped 
through the Indian forces and joined their own men in 
the palace courtyard. 

The Indians followed up to the gates with their 
flights of stones and arrows and, when the Christians 
were safely inside, settled down outside as they had the 
night before, and all night long by turns they begged 
to have Montezuma delivered to them or threw taunts 
and threats over the wall at their foes. 

"The gods have delivered you at last into our hands," 
they cried; "Huitzilopotchli has long cried for his vic- 
tims. The stone of sacrifice is ready. The knives are 
sharpened. The wild beasts in the palace are roaring 
for their offal. And the cages," they added, taunting 
the Tlascalans with their leanness, "are waiting for the 
false sons of Anahuac, who are to be fattened for the 
festival." 

Again Cortes did not sleep. He acknowledged now 
to himself that this was no mere tumult, but an actual 
revolution, with his few men set against tens of thou- 
sands of keen, determined savages, with capable leaders 
who, despairing of rescuing Montezuma, were now 
ready to act without him to free Mexico. 

At the earliest hour of light on the second morning, 
the Aztecs were in motion again. They hurled them- 
selves with such ferocity against the wall that several 



CORTES IS BESIEGED 215 

warriors succeeded in getting into the courtyard. For 
a moment it looked as if they would carry the place by 
storm, but the Spaniards killed those who had entered 
and di'ove back the others. 

It was a desperate moment for Cortes. He had 
completely lost his power over the Aztecs; he could no 
more cajole them, and he knew he could not long with- 
stand them. There was only one resource left him; he 
must get Montezuma to intercede once more with his 
people. Swallowing his pride, Cortes sent Olid and 
Father Olmedo to Montezuma. 

The Emperor had been brooding over Cortes' insults 
and was not cordial. "What have I to do with Ma- 
linche?" he answered haughtily. "I do not wish to hear 
from him. I desire only to die. To what a state has 
my willingness to serve him reduced me!" 

Father Olmedo used his softest words to win Monte- 
zuma back to his former friendly views. 

"It is of no use," Montezuma answered. "My peo- 
ple will neither believe me, nor the false words and 
promises of Malinche. You will never leave these 
walls alive." 

Then Olid interposed and begged only that he should 
persuade the people to let the Spaniards leave Mexico 
in safety. "We are ready to depart and we will go at 
once," he ended. 

Finalty Montezuma consented. In his gala dress — 
his mantle of blue and white fastened on his shoulders 
with an emerald, his gold sandals bound on his feet, a 
gold crown on his head, a noble carrying the scepter 
before him, Montezuma went once more to speak to his 
people. The palace was a huge one story building, 
long and low, except that in the center a tower ran up 



216 THE BOYS' PRESCOTT 

another story. To this tower above the roof of the 
main building Montezuma ascended with his own suite 
and a Spanish guard. As soon as he appeared on the 
battlements he was recognized by the thronging Aztecs 
in the great square below. 

At once the fierce cries and the wild clanging of their 
musical instruments dropped away and a tense silence 
fell over the thousands of Mexicans who stood in the 
presence of their lawful Emperor. They forgot for a 
moment that now they called Cuitlahua instead of 
Montezuma their monarch, and while many fell on their 
knees before Montezuma, all the dense throng gazed 
eagerly at the man whom they had worshiped as a god 
and whose face they had always been forbidden to 
look at. 

Montezuma seized the moment of quiet expectation 
to address them. He, too, forgot that he was a pris- 
oner instead of a king, and spoke with all his old au- 
thority, calmly but in a voice easily heard by all his 
waiting subjects. 

"Why," he began, "do I see my people here in arms 
against the palace of my fathers? Is it that you think 
your sovereign a prisoner, and wish to release him? If 
so, you have acted rightly. But you are mistaken. 
I am no prisoner. The strangers are my guests. I 
remain with them only from choice, and can leave them 
when I list. Have you come to drive them from the 
city? That is unnecessary. They will depart of their 
own accord, if you will open a way for them. Beturn 
to your homes, then. Lay down your arms. Show 
your obedience to me who have a right to it. The white 
men shall go back to their own land; and all shall b§ 
well again within the walls of Tenochtitlan." 




'Return to your homes. Lay down your arms' " — Page 216 



CORTES IS BESIEGED 217 

The Aztecs listened till the end, although a murmur 
of contempt ran through the throng when Montezuma 
called himself the friend of the Christians. When he 
had finished, their anger against the white men swept 
away their last remnant of reverence for a prince who 
could call his friends those who had insulted their reli- 
gion and their customs. Surely now he was their 
prince no longer. 

"Base Aztec!" they cried. "Woman! Coward! 
The white men have made you a woman — fit only to 
weave and spin!" 

In his excitement a chief brandished his spear, and 
instantly the excited mob, leaping to their feet, passed 
from taunting speech to deadly action. They dis- 
charged a volley of stones and arrows against the royal 
party. 

The Spanish guard had seen the respectful kneeling 
of the crowd and had expected a quiet answer to Monte- 
zuma's harangue. Although taken utterly by surprise 
at this sudden attack, they sprang forward to cover the 
Emperor with their shields. It was too late. Two 
arrows pierced him and a stone struck him with such 
force on his temple that he fell insensible. 

Then again the Mexicans were overcome with their 
superstitious reverence for their King. With their 
own hands they had struck down their Emperor. A 
dismal howl arose from the mob. Filled with horror 
at their deed, and fearful of the punishment the gods 
would send upon them, they scattered, panic-stricken, 
in every direction. The great square, a few moments 
before swaying with savage passion, was left utterly 
empty and silent, 



H 



CHAPTER XXVI 

THE STORMING OF THE GREAT TEMPLE 

1520 

IS attendants carried Montezuma to his apart- 
ments. As he recovered consciousness there 
came back to his mind his utter wretchedness ; 
one year, the proud ruler of Anahuac, whose most dis- 
tant tribes paid him homage, and the next, a prisoner 
in the hands of his enemies; no longer reverenced by 
his subjects or feared by his foes; struck down by an 
Aztec hand. He did not wish to live. 

Cortes and his generals tried to comfort him in the 
old way, but now they could make no impression, 
Montezuma would not answer; he did not even seem to 
hear them; he sat with his eyes on the ground, mourn- 
ing over his loss of honor. 

His wounds, though dangerous, were not necessarily 
fatal. Cortes gave him the best of care, but Monte- 
zuma would do nothing to help toward his recovery. 
Without a word he tore off the bandages every time 
they were put on. He had lost all. Nothing now but 
death could satisfy his savage ideas of honor. 

Cortes, in his attendance on Montezuma, was inter- 
rupted by a call from his sentinels. 

"The Aztecs have possession of the great temple," 
came the word, "and are assaulting us from that high 
position." 

We can make a clear picture of things as they were. 

218 



STORMING THE GREAT TEMPLE 219 

First the great square of the Citj^ of Mexico, or Ten- 
ochtitlan, with the four great avenues running out of 
it, north, west, south and east, and in its center the huge 
temple, a pyramid whose each side at its base measured 
three hundred feet and which rose in the air in terraces 
one hundred feet before it ended in the broad, flat, 
paved roof, on which stood the two tower-like sanctu- 
aries. Around the courtyard of this great temple lay 
the Wall of Serpents, which had an exit on each of the 
four great avenues. Opposite the Wall of Serpents, 
across the square, was the wall which enclosed the court- 
yard of the palace of Axayacatl — a space large enough 
to contain not only the palace that sheltered the Span- 
iards, but also the barracks of the thousands of Tlas- 
calan allies. Around the square were other palaces and 
buildings whose flat roofs commanded the palace court- 
yard. The picture is clear before our eyes. 

Cortes had destroyed some of the houses which 
threatened his troops, but events had moved so fast that 
he had had Httle time to think of the menace of the 
great temple area which towered above him. It was 
in the possession now of a body of six hundred Aztec 
nobles, who had recovered from the shock of seeing 
Montezuma fall, and were showering arrows down into 
the palace courtyard, while they sheltered themselves 
from return fire behind the sanctuaries. 

Cortes saw at once that he must either vacate his 
quarters or drive the Aztecs from the temple area. To 
Escobar, his chamberlain, he gave one hundred men 
and orders to storm the temple area and fire the sanctu- 
aries on top. Three times the little band tried to 
mount the terrace, and three times they were driven 
back. 



220 THE BOYS' PRESCOTT 

Then Cortes himself headed the party. He had been 
wounded in the left hand the day before and was suffer- 
ing greatly, but instead of nursing his wound, he had 
his shield buckled to his useless arm, and with his sword 
in his right hand, sallied out with three hundred picked 
Spanish troops and several thousand of his Indian allies 
to disperse the Aztecs massed in the temple courtyard. 

He charged with the cavalry across the paved court- 
yard, but it was so slippery that the horses could not 
keep their feet. Cortes had to let the cavalry return 
to the palace, while he pushed back the Aztecs by means 
of his foot-soldiers. He soon got command of the tem- 
ple courtyard, but the place he wanted was a hundred 
feet above him, up one hundred and fourteen steps, 
which could not be rushed all at once, but must be taken 
in five sorties. The first flight led only to the first 
terrace, and he must go on that terrace around the four 
sides of the pyramid before he came to the flight — just 
above the first — which led to the second terrace; pass- 
ing around the temple four times before he could reach 
the flat, paved area at the top, where stood the two 
towers that Cortes wished to burn. 

Cortes left a guard of Spanish arquebusiers and In- 
dian allies to hold the foot of the staircase in the court- 
yard he had just cleared and, followed by Alvarado, 
Sandoval, Ordaz and others of his officers, sprang up 
the first flight of steps in face of the Aztec warriors 
who were drawn up on the terrace above to oppose him. 

It took courage of the strongest to face that opposi- 
tion. The Mexicans, from their higher place, showered 
down not only stones and arrows from their slings and 
bows, but thundered down the stairway hea^y stones 
and beam? and burning rafters, against which it wag 



STORMING THE GREAT TEMPLE 221 

almost impossible to stand. The greater part of the 
invaders, however, got out of the way or sprang over 
these obstacles and reached the first terrace. 

Once on level ground, it was not hard to push back 
the Mexicans and gain the next staircase. They had 
less trouble in taking this, for the Spanish arquebusiers 
below in the temple courtyard poured up a steady 
musket fii-e at the Indians in their exposed position, 
until finally they abandoned the stairways entirely and 
fled up to the flat area of the temple. 

The Spaniards mounted the last staircase close upon 
their rear, "and the two parties soon found themselves 
face to face on this aerial battlefield, engaged in mortal 
combat, in presence of the whole city, as well as of the 
troops in the courtyard, who paused, as if by mutual 
consent, from their own hostilities, gazing in silent ex- 
pectation on the issue of those above. The area, 
though somewhat smaller than the base of the temple, 
was large enough to afford a fair field of fight for a 
thousand combatants. It was paved with broad, flat 
stones. No impediment occurred over its surface, ex- 
cept the huge sacrificial block, and the temples of stone 
which rose to the height of forty feet, at the further 
extremity of the arena. One of these had been conse- 
crated to the Cross. The other was still occupied by the 
Mexican war god. The Christian and the Aztec con- 
tended for their rehgions under the very shadow of their 
respective shrines; while the Indian priests, running 
to and fro, with their hair wildly streaming over the 
sable mantles, seemed hovering in mid-air, Hke so many 
demons of darkness urging on the work of slaughter." 
(Prescott's "Conquest of Mexico.") 

It was indeed mortal combat, for no quarter was asked 



222 THE BOYS' PKESCOTT 

or given, and no one could escape. At the end, either 
Mexicans or Spaniards would be alone on the temple 
area without a surviving enemy. There was no wall to 
protect the edge of the area, and any man's misstep on 
the slippery pavement would send him hurtling down a 
hundred feet to the paved courtyard below. In the 
three hours' struggle that followed each party tried to 
throw his enemy from the height ; sometimes two men in 
close embrace went over together. Two Aztecs seized 
Cortes, but he was too strong for them, and, instead of 
falling himself, sent one of the Indians to his own death. 

The Mexicans outnumbered the Spaniards two to one, 
and in such a hand-to-hand conflict it seemed as if num- 
bers and not skill would tell. But Cortes' veterans 
added to their courage and coolness and skill, matchless 
weapons and defensive armor, which counted for more 
than the numbers of the Aztecs. Fainter and fainter 
grew their resistance and fewer their numbers, until at 
last the only living Aztecs on the area were the two or 
three priests who had been taken alive. 

Every Spaniard was covered with wounds, but noth- 
ing could stay them now in their rush to accomplish the 
destruction of the war god. They found, too, that the 
tower that had been given to them for a chapel had been 
restored to its savage uses; the cross and the image of 
the Virgin were gone, and the heathen symbols had been 
put back in their place. In the other tower before the 
awful figure of Huitzilopotchli a sacrifice was smoking 
on the altar. 

With their war cry of victory the Spaniards fell upon 
the image of the war god and rolled him down the 
temple steps into the midst of the gasping crowd of 
Indians. Then they set fire to his tower, and the flames 



STORMING THE GREAT TEMPLE 223 

told abroad, as far as they could be seen, that Hultzilo- 
potchli had been cast down from his high place. 

The Spaniards marched proudly down from the tem- 
ple top back to their own barracks through the files of 
Indians too awestruck by the overthrow of their gods 
to attempt opposition. That same night Cortes, flushed 
with victorj^, burned three hundred houses in the city. 

The next day, thinking he had taught the Aztecs their 
lesson, he demanded a parley. He went up into the 
turret on the castle top with Marina, while the great 
chiefs gathered in the huge square below. They gazed 
with curiosity at Marina as she, in her soft Indian voice, 
translated Cortes' words. 

"You must now be convinced," Cortes said to the 
Aztec chiefs, "that you have nothing further to hope 
from opposition to the Spaniards. You have seen your 
gods trampled in the dust, your altars broken, your 
buildings burned, your warriors falling on all sides. 
All this you have brought on yourselves bj^ rebelhon. 
Yet for the affection the sovereign, whom you have so 
unworthily treated, still bears you, I would willingly 
stay my hand, if you will lay down your arms, and re- 
turn once more to your obedience. But if you do not, I 
will make your city a heap of ruins, and leave not a soul 
alive to mourn over it." 

The Indians listened in silence, but they were not im- 
pressed. 

"It is true," they answered, "that you have destroyed 
our temples, broken in pieces our gods, massacred our 
countrymen. Many more, doubtless, will yet fall under 
your terrible swords. But we are content so long as for 
every thousand Mexicans we can shed the blood of a 
single white man. Look out on our terraces and 



224 THE BOYS* PRESCOTT 

streets, see them still thronged with warriors as far as 
your eyes can reach. Our numbers are scarcely dimin- 
ished by our losses. Yours, on the contrary, are lessen- 
ing every hour. You are perishing from hunger and 
sickness. Your provisions and water are failing. You 
must soon fall into our hands. The bridges are broken 
down and you cannot escape. There will be too few of 
you left to glut the vengeance of our gods." 

They ended this conference as they had that with 
Montezuma, by sending a shower of arrows at the Span- 
iards on the turret. Cortes and his men went moodily 
to their quarters. 

Gloom settled dark over the palace of Axayacatl. 
The news ran through camp that the Aztecs were not to 
be appeased and that the white men no longer ruled or 
terrified them. Every word of their speech had been 
true. The Christians were short of provisions and 
water; they had lost men they could ill afford to spare, 
while the Aztec ranks were swelling hourly. And to 
Cortes, who realized what it meant, the taunt that the 
bridges were down was the worst word of all. He had 
known all along that Mexico could be a trap, and now 
he had shut his men up in it. 

At once the Narvaez men broke into open mutiny. 
They had left a comfortable life in Cuba to fill their 
pockets with Mexican gold. Instead, they had filled 
their days with hardship and suffering, for which their 
reward was to be death or, at best, a return home poorer 
than they had set out. They wished they had never 
heard of Velasquez and they wished they had never seen 
Cortes. 

Deaf to the veterans' arguments that Cortes always 
found victory in the end, and that, in the worst, their 



STORMING THE GREAT TEMPLE 225 

only chance of safety lay in keeping together and fol- 
lowing their leader with implicit obedience, they de- 
manded angrily that he should at once take them back 
to Vera Cruz, before they were sacrificed alive to the 
Mexican war god. 

Cortes could not take his army back to Cuba just 
then, so he set them to work in the Tenochtitlan palace 
to build a bridge that could be carried with them as they 
marched and laid down over any gap in the causeway. 
When this was done, he started them at three movable 
forts. 

We all remember in our Ccesar the little moving forts 
Cffisar used in his wars against the Gauls. Cortes had 
been planning something of the same sort since his first 
sally along the streets, when the Mexicans had assaulted 
the Spaniards from their flat roof-tops. He made of 
planks three of these little forts, called manias, two- 
storied, with loop-holes cut in the side for the musket- 
eers. They were mounted on wheels and were to be 
dragged through the streets by the Tlascalan allies. 

Cortes, while he busied his men, was himself squarely 
facing the situation. He was one of those rare people 
who have the romance and poetry to glimpse the high 
vision, and who possess, at the same time, the patience 
and courage and constancy to carry the vision step by 
step into actual experience. It was his sureness of his 
own ability to accomplish his purpose unfalteringly that 
made his men as eager to follow as he was to lead. 

Cortes did not for a moment consider that his cause 
was lost, but he saw that for the present he must leave 
Mexico. To stay was impossible ; each day the breaches 
in the wall increased, and the numbers of his men 
diminished; yet even for those who were left, there was 



226 THE BOYS' PRESCOTT 

only a small daily ration of bread; they could not long 
on that endure the strain of hard fighting and constant 
watching; none but Spaniards could have endured it so 
long. Cortes knew that to every mind but his, going 
out of Mexico now would mean the giving up of the con- 
quest. He did not speak even to his friends about his 
own certainty of eventual success. 

His mind made up to evacuate Tenochtitlan, he went 
to work to find the best way out, and decided that the 
safest route would be across the dyke of Tlacopan, which 
led from the great square west to the mainland; this 
causeway was two miles in length, but was the shortest 
of the three dykes. 

He had come and gone before always by the southern 
causeway of Iztapalapan. In order to get acquainted 
with the Tlacopan dyke, he determined to make in that 
direction a sally which would not only serve the pur- 
pose of exploration but would give his men employment 
and blind the Mexicans to the fact that he meant to 
leave Tenochtitlan. 

For this sortie he called into use his new moving forts, 
filling them with musketeers. As they rolled out of the 
palace courtyard and down the Tlacopan avenue, the 
Aztecs gazed with astonishment and dismay at this latest 
device of their enemies; a rolling house that belched 
fire and smoke from both sides against the Mexicans 
stationed on the low, flat roofs, and which occasionally 
opened at the top to let Spanish soldiers leap out upon 
the housetops to engage in hand to hand fight with the 
occupants. 

The Aztecs had their chance too. From the higher 
buildings they threw down huge stones and timbers 
on the forts and threatened to wreck them. The ma- 



STORMING THE GREAT TEMPLE 227 

chines went along fairly well, however, until they 
reached the first canal. There the bridge had been 
destroyed and the farther side was guarded by Aztec 
troops. Although the canal was not deep, as the port- 
able bridge had been left at home, neither the machines 
nor the cavalry could get across the opening. Cortes 
gave order to break up the clumsy, moving forts and to 
use their timbers to fill up the gap. The bridge was 
mended under a heavy Aztec fire. The cavalry charged 
across and swept the enemy before them as far as the 
next canal, where the Indians made another determined 
stand, and so on to the next, till all the seven breaches in 
the Tlacopan avenue had been carried by the Spaniards 
and filled in. The work took two days, Cortes, with a 
straight road now before him to the Tlacopan dyke, 
left Alvarado in charge of the avenue and went himself 
back to the palace of Axayacatl. 

The Spanish successes seemed to discourage the 
Aztecs. They begged for a truce and asked that their 
captured priests might be sent as Cortes' envoys. Cor- 
tes sent them, hoping the worst was over. While he 
waited for his repty, he allowed his soldiers a little rest. 

It was a very short respite. Instead of offers of 
peace, there came the news that the whole city was under 
arms again in a wilder tumult than ever; that they had 
overpowered Alvarado, and were again destroying the 
bridges. The desire for a truce was only an Aztec plot 
to get back their high-priest from captivity. Angry 
that the Aztecs had so easily duped him, Cortes threw 
himself on his horse and, with his guard, was off full 
speed to Alvarado's help. 

The first body of Indians yielded at once to his wild 
charge. Cortes restored the bridge and, leaving his 



228 THE BOYS' PRESCOTT 

infantry, galloped on down the long avenue with his 
cavalry, driving the Aztecs at spears' point. But while 
he raced ahead, behind him, through the side streets, 
great bodies of Indians poured into the avenue of Tlaco- 
pan and attacked the Spanish foot, too faint and weary 
after its days of hard fighting to offer much resistance. 
The Indians again demolished the bridge Cortes had 
just restored, thus cutting off from their quarters all 
the Spaniards on the far side of the canal. Hearing the 
conflict, the cavalry charged back to this breach, where 
they found tremendous confusion. Cortes dashed this 
way and that, terrifying his enemies and cheering his 
own men by his well known battle-cry. Finally the 
bridge was again repaired and the Spaniards passed 
over. 

Cortes was the last. As his turn came, some boards 
gave way opening a hole six feet wide in the bridge. 
Amid a whirl of Indian arrows, he put spurs to his horse, 
leaped the chasm, and escaped with only a few slight 
wounds. Cortes' soldiers saw, leading on the charge in 
the thickest of the battle, their patron saint — St. James 
; — riding a milkwhite steed, his sword flashing lightning. 
He, they said, had taken care of Cortes. 

As night fell the Indians dropped away and left the 
Spaniards in possession of the bridge. Cortes led his 
victorious troops back to the palace, but they went with- 
out joy, drooping with weariness and hunger, knowing 
that to-morrow it must all be done again. 

As they passed in through the palace entrance, a mes- 
senger stood waiting for Cortes. He had still another 
thing to face. 

Montezuma was dying. 



CHAPTER XXVII 

"the melancholy night" 

1520 

MONTEZUMA died as he had Uved, a pagan. 
Father Ohiiedo, in his great earnestness, had 
used his best efforts to bring him into the 
Christian church, but the Emperor held without falter- 
ing to his own gods. They had betrayed him, but he 
clung to them. The good father, kneeling at his side, 
held the cross before his dying eyes. 

Montezuma pushed it away. "I have but a few mo- 
ments to live," he said, "and will not at this hour desert 
the faith of my fathers." 

He sent for Cortes and begged him to care for his 
three daughters and to implore the Spanish King to see 
that they had their rightful inheritance. "Your lord 
will do this," he concluded, "if it were only for the 
friendly offices I have rendered the Spaniards, and for 
the love I have shown them — though it has brought me 
to this condition. But for this I bear them no ill-will." 

Cortes promised this, and he kept his word. Then, 
in the arms of his faithful nobles, on the 30th of June, 
1520, Montezuma, the great Emperor of the Aztecs, 
died. 

"The tidings of his death," says an old historian, 
"were received with real grief by every cavalier and sol- 
dier in the army who had had access to his person; for 
we all loved him as a father — and no wonder, seeing how 
good he was." 

229 



230 THE BOYS' PRESCOTT 

Cortes was greatly affected by the death of Monte- 
zuma. There had been friendship between them, and 
Cortes must have reflected that he had caused all the 
Emperor's misfortunes. When the Spaniards had come 
into the country, Montezuma had been the bold and war- 
like king of all Anahuac ; for their friendship's sake, he 
had become the enemy of his own people, and his con- 
stancy to the Spaniards had been his own undoing. At 
the age of twenty-three he had ascended the throne as 
the greatest prince the Aztecs had ever known ; at forty, 
a prisoner, he died from a wound inflicted by one of his 
own subjects. 

Cortes, sad for the loss of his friend, and heavy- 
hearted because in Montezuma's death there was broken 
the last shield that stood between the white men and the 
Aztec vengeance, paid the Emperor all possible honor. 
He sent the body, dressed in its royal robes, on a litter to 
the Aztecs in the city. With the sound of their wails in 
his ears he called his officers to council to determine how 
they might get out of Tenochtitlan with all possible 
speed. 

It was decided to retreat to Tlascala by the short Tla- 
copan dyke, which was less likely to be guarded than the 
dyke of Iztapalapan. Cortes counseled that they should 
go that very night while the Aztecs were occupied with 
Montezuma's funeral ceremonies and before they could 
imagine that the Spaniards thought of going. This de- 
cision was strengthened by an astrologer, who had al- 
ready predicted that Cortes, after great misfortune, 
would rise again to wealth and power, and who now de- 
clared that this night was the time for the Spaniards to 
leave Tenochtitlan. 

All was in motion at once, as the men hastened prepa- 



"THE MELANCHOLY NIGHT" 231 

rations for departure and took their orders. The por- 
table bridge was given to Magarino and forty men in- 
structed in its use. The van of two hundred Spanish 
foot were to march under Sandoval and Ordaz. Al- 
varado, with Leon, commanded the rear composed of the 
strongest foot-soldiers. The center was under the 
charge of Cortes with a picked guard of one hundred of 
his veterans; here were the cavalry, the guns, the bag- 
gage, the treasure and the prisoners — Cacama and Cui- 
cuitzca among them. The Tlascalans were distributed 
between the three bodies. 

The royal fifth of the treasure cast in gold bars Cortes 
delivered to the royal officers, giving them the strongest 
horses and a Spanish guard. His own he also put un- 
der guard. The captains and soldiers carried their 
wealth around their necks in thick gold chains. When 
the public and private treasure had thus been disposed 
of, Cortes turned to the soldiers who were looking 
greedily at the shining heaps of gold still left on the 
floor. 

"Take what you will of it," he said to the men. "Bet- 
ter you should have it than these Mexican hounds. But 
be careful not to over-load yourselves. He travels safest 
in the dark night who travels lightest." 

The veterans followed his advice and took only what 
could be easily managed, but Narvaez' men, greedy for 
gold, loaded themselves down with all they could carry. 

The night was pitch black and cold, drizzling rain was 
falling. At midnight, June 30th, the entire force was 
under arms, listening to Father Olmedo perform mass 
for the last time in their palace chapel. He asked 
God's protection through all the terrible hours of peril 
ahead. Then the gates were noiselessly thrown open 



232 THE BOYS' PRESCOTT 

and, with fast-beating hearts, the Spanish army went out 
of the palace courtyard into the great square. 

The square was deserted and silent as the troops 
marched across it and struck into the wide avenue of Tla- 
copan which led to the Tlacopan dyke. Every nerve 
was tense as the soldiers peered into the thick darkness 
that enveloped them or down upon the inky canals as 
they passed over the bridges, expecting in every shadow 
to find a lurking foe. 

But none disturbed them, the seven bridges were all 
in place and their hearts grew steadier and their feet 
lighter as they went, until the broad sky-line ahead 
showed that they had left the city behind and were on 
the edge of the causeway of Tlacopan. 

Here was the drawbridge — the first of the three cuts 
in the causeway, which Magarino's portable bridge must 
cover for them. The troops halted. Suddenly from the 
shadow a lithe form sprang up and ran tow^ard the city, 
yelling as he went. 

The Spaniards shivered at the sound. Magarino, un- 
disturbed, quickly got his bridge into place, and Sando- 
val dashed across to test its strength. As his company 
followed him over, from the great temple in the city came 
the wail of the priests' shells shrilling alarm, and high 
above those notes, the dismal, terrifying booming of the 
huge drum, sounded only in times of great peril, struck 
its fear into the hearts of those in flight. 

Without disorder, however, Cortes' contingent fol- 
lowed Sandoval's across the bridge. And then there 
came another sound — like the rushing of a torrent or a 
mighty wind. Nearer and nearer it came ; the sweep of 
thousands of paddles over the dark lake, and finally 
shower upon shower of arrows on the hurrying army; 



"THE MELANCHOLY NIGHT" 233 

while from all sides echoed the Aztecs' awful war- 
cry. 

With unwavering step the Spaniards pushed on. 
The)^ pursued no foes, but struck at what opposed them. 
Upon each side of the causeway Indians sprang from the 
water to block their progress, and the white men struck 
them down wdth their swords or rode over them with their 
horses, and marched on. 

The van reached the next break in the causeway be- 
fore the rear had crossed Magarino's bridge. Crowded 
from behind, as more and more of the troops came onto 
the causeway, the van was in danger of being pushed into 
the water unless a bridge could be quickly provided. 
Sandoval sent messenger after messenger to the rear 
with orders to hurry forward with the bridge. His army 
in the meanwhile, with no means of going ahead and no 
means of assaulting the thousands of savages who were 
as thick here as at the last gap, did its best to keep cool 
and hold its ground. 

After the last of the Spanish troops had passed over 
Magarino's bridge and the whole army was massed on 
the long, narrow island made by the causeway with a 
breach at each end, Magarino tried to raise his bridge. 
It was jammed tight by the great weight of horses and 
artilleiy which had passed over it. Work as he might, 
he could not get it free. 

When the troops understood what had happened, a 
great cry of anguish arose. In black darkness, in 
streaming rain, massed together on a strip of land wide 
enough only for fifteen men to ride abreast, foes pushing 
behind and the gloomy waters on each side alive with 
their enemies, where could they find help ? 

At once all order was gone. Each man forgot he was 



234 THE BOYS' PKESCOTT 

part of an army and tried only to save his own life. In 
panic and confusion they pressed this way and that, not 
caring now whether it was friend or foe they trampled. 
As they pushed on from behind they crowded Sandoval 
and his men in front to the very brink of the water. 

Sandoval saw that some one must give way. He 
plunged on horseback into the water, followed by Ordaz 
and many other cavaliers. Sandoval and Ordaz swam 
their horses across the gap and scrambled up the slippery 
side of the second stretch of causeway ahead. Some of 
his men were with him, some were swept away into the 
darkness, others were seized and dragged into the In- 
dian canoes. 

The infantry came next, swimming or clinging to 
whatever offered support. All up and down the cause- 
way the battle raged, a hand to hand conflict in the dark, 
where a misstep meant death. 

Gradually, crowded irresistibly from behind, the 
wagons and guns and heavy baggage were thrust for- 
ward into the second breach in the causeway until the 
wreckage made of itself a bridge over which the rear 
could pass. 

Cortes, in the meantime, had found a ford, and sitting 
stirrup-high on his horse in the water he tried to make 
his men recognize his voice and follow. But they could 
hear nothing through the wild uproar, and finally he rode 
on with a chosen few to join Sandoval on the causeway. 

He found him advanced to the third breach, trying to 
cheer on his men to the last plunge, which would mean 
safety if they reached the far shore. But the water was 
wide and deep here, though not so closely guarded as at 
the other two cuts. Sandoval, as before, dashed into 
the lake and the bravest of his men followed, some swim- 




'At once all order was gone. Each man tried only to save his 
own life" — Page 23J^ 



"THE MELANCHOLY NIGHT" 235 

ming and others clinging to the horses' tails. Cortes 
and his corps followed — his veterans proving their wis- 
dom in traveling light, as he had advised. Many of Nar- 
vaez' men, weighed down with gold, sank in the water 
and did not rise again. 

Cortes and Sandoval scrambled up the far side of the 
slipper}" dyke and led their men along the last bit of 
causeway to the mainland bej^ond. "The first gray of 
the morning was now coming over the waters. It 
showed the hideous confusion of the scene which had been 
shrouded in the obscurity of the night. The dark 
masses of combatants, stretching along the dyke, were 
seen struggling for mastery, until the very causeway on 
which they stood appeared to tremble, and reel to and 
fro, as if shaken by an earthquake; while the bosom of 
the lake, as far as the eye could reach, was darkened 
by canoes crowded with warriors, whose spears and 
bludgeons, armed with blades of 'volcanic glass,' gleamed 
in the morning light." (Prescott's "Conquest of Mex- 
ico." 

And then along the dyke there came a breathless mes- 
senger. 

"Alvarado and his corps are overwhelmed in the rear." 

Just freed as they were from the jaws of hell, neither 
Cortes nor Sandoval hesitated. They turned their 
horses, swam the breach once more, and dashed into the 
very heart of the fighting to save their comrade. 

Alvarado was unhorsed, defending himself desper- 
ately against the savages, and trj^ing to rally his men, 
who were pushed to the very edge of the causeway by 
the enemy who shut them in on every side. Cortes' 
charge checked the Indians only for a moment ; the next, 
the torrent of warriors swept forward again, driving 



236 THE BOYS' PRESCOTT 

Cortes and his cavaliers into the water. Alvarado, with 
no horse, would not follow, fearing that he would be 
seized at once by the canoes. After a quick glance, he 
did the impossible. He set his long lance in the rubbish 
in the chasm and, with one spring of his powerful body, 
threw himself across the gap. 

"This is truly Tonatiuh — the Sun," gasped the Aztecs. 
They did not pursue. 

Cortes, Sandoval, Alvarado and as many others as 
had saved themselves rode forward once more to join 
the broken remnant of the Spanish army marching off 
the causeway, while the Indians gathered up the treasure 
the white men had scattered in their flight. 

Popotla was the first village the refugees reached on 
the mainland. Cortes got down from his horse and sat 
on the steps of an Indian temple to watch his shattered 
army pass before him — dismounted cavalry, shivering, 
dripping infantry, v/ounded allies. Guns, banners, bag- 
gage were all left on the fatal causeway, with many of 
those who had borne arms. The captain-general, as he 
missed one familiar face after another, lost for the time 
his indomitable courage. He covered his face with his 
hands and the teai*s trickled through his fingers. In the 
bitterness of his soul he could understand how these mid- 
night hours would go down in history under the name of 
"The Melancholy Night." 



CHAPTER XXVIII 

ON THE PLAINS OF OTUMBA 
1520 

CORTES did not long yield to discouragement. 
Instead of counting those who were gone, he 
began to count gratefully those who were still 
with him. Marina was there and Father Olmedo — the 
two who had been to Cortes like a right hand and a left 
through all the expedition. Marina had been in Sando- 
val's division and had been carefully guarded during the 
wild hours of the night. Sandoval himself was safe, so 
were Alvarado and Olid and Ordaz and Avila and 
Aguilar. And so was Martin Lopez, the ship-builder. 

When Cortes saw Lopez, he rose from the temple step 
and slung his leg once more across his good horse, while 
his thoughts went racing eagerly ahead to future achieve- 
ment. Even in this moment of retreat he turned men- 
tally back to Mexico. Lopez could build new brigan- 
tines; Sandoval and Alvarado could lead new attacks; 
the army, refreshed, could march back to Tenochtitlan ; 
he should still accomplish his purpose. 

For the moment, however, his army was stunned. 
When Cortes put himself at their head and led them on 
to the city of Tlacopan, they followed without hope or 
courage. In the main street of Tlacopan they halted; 
it did not seem to matter much now where they went or 
what they did. Cortes could not let them stay in an 
enemy's city, exposed to fire from housetops ; he led them 

237 



238 THE BOYS' PRESCOTT 

through the city and out into the country beyond where, 
in the neighborhood of a temple set on a hill, he reor- 
ganized his broken forces. Leon, alone, of his chief 
captains was missing; he had been killed early in the 
fight; only Sandoval or Alvarado could have been a 
severer loss to Cortes. Cacama, the king of Tezcuco, 
had also been slain. Of the army, there were left about 
one-third of the Spanish, one-fourth of the Tlascalans 
and twenty-three horses. The baggage and most of the 
treasure had been lost ; the cannon were gone ; even their 
muskets the men had thrown away in their eagerness to 
escape. 

When Cortes had reformed his army, he set it, weary 
as it was, in an attack against the temple on the hill. 
The Indian garrison fled at the first charge, and the 
Spaniards took possession of the temple with its food 
and fuel. They built fires to dry their clothes, while 
they satisfied their famishing hunger, and then, like 
tired dogs, they dropped down and went to sleep. 

Cortes watched them while they slept and dreamed 
his own dreams. He was the commander-in-chief of a 
discouraged army of little more than two hundred un- 
armed men; a powerful foe was behind, and doubtful 
allies before — for how would Tlascala receive a beaten 
general responsible for the death of thousands of Tlasca- 
lans? Beyond Tlascala was Velasquez in Cuba, who 
must be reckoned with if Cortes' expedition failed; and 
beyond Velasquez was the King, whom success only 
could make Cortes' friend. But in the face of all this, 
Cortes was planning another invasion of Mexico. 

He must go back to Tlascala first, hoping for a 
friendly reception and the chance to rest and newly equip 
his army. He had never been to Tlascala from the 



ON THE PLAINS OF OTUMBA 239 

Tlacopan dyke, so he would be picking his way over a 
new road, and at the same time looking out for all pos- 
sible perils. When he reached Tlascala he must be pre- 
pared for a doubtful reception. 

Cortes gave his men all that day to rest, sure that it 
would take the Aztecs a day to secure their prisoners 
and bury their dead before they could start in pursuit. 

At midnight Cortes roused his men, refreshed by sleep 
and food, and put them again into marching order. 
Without sound of drum or trumpet, leaving the camp 
fires burning to deceive the enemy, the little army, its 
rear, front and flanks well guarded, the wounded carried 
in litters, under the guidance of the allies, set its feet on 
the road to Tlascala. 

As the Tlascalans chose the rough, twisting mountain 
paths that they might escape the Aztec cities, the troops 
had to depend for provisions on whatever they could 
find along the road. It was not much, and as day after 
day passed the men, weakened by hunger and weari- 
ness, dropped little by little what remained of baggage 
and treasure. They would have thrown themselves 
down by the roadside to die if it had not been for Cortes' 
unfaltering courage and gay good-humor. He chose 
for himself always the most meager fare, the most dan- 
gerous post, the hardest work. When their general was 
faring so ill, and keeping so cheerful, how could the 
soldiers grumble? Only the Narvaez men fretted. 
Cortes' veterans stood steadily at his back and his cav- 
aliers at his side as they marched on, too tired even to 
notice the taunts of the small bodies of Indians who hung 
on their rear. 

"Hasten on!" they cried. "You will soon find your- 
selves where you cannot escape." 



240 THE BOYS' PRESCOTT 

On the morning of July 7th, the army were about 
twenty-five miles from Tlascala, climbing the mountain 
steeps which lay between them and the plain of Otumba. 
As they stumbled on, wondering how much longer they 
could endure it, two scouts came dashing back up the 
path. 

"An army of thousands is waiting for us down there," 
they cried. 

The soldiers dropped their apathy. Cautiously they 
passed on over the mountain top and looked down into 
the plain, so crowded with Indian warriors in their 
white quilted cotton doublets that the valley looked as 
if it were filled with snow. As far as the eye could 
reach, the Spaniards saw, as they had seen in the Tlas- 
calan pass once before, a sea of banners and plumes and 
spear-tips tossing in wild confusion. Cuitlahua had 
called on his vassals around the region of Tlascala to 
arm, and every great chief had responded with thou- 
sands of men. 

Even to Cortes, for a moment, came the thought that 
this would end it. How could his exhausted troops, 
scarcely able to drag themselves along, oppose a force 
hke this? They knew, as well as he, that if they could 
not cut their way through the tumultuous mass below, 
they would die to a man. There was no retreat. 
Tenochtitlan laj^ behind them. 

Coolly, without delay, Cortes formed for a charge. 
He made his front of foot soldiers as broad as possible, 
and protected its flanks with his twenty horse. He 
spoke his few words of encouragement, reminding them 
of past victories and assuring them that God, who had 
brought them this far, would carry them through. 

The soldiers listened and responded. With firm step 
and unmoved faces they went on down the mountain 



ON THE PLAINS OF OTUMBA 241 

to tlirow themselves on the Indians. It seemed like 
tossing pebbles into a lake. 

The Indians rushed to meet them with their war-cry 
and a cloud of arrows so thick that it shut out the sun. 
The Spaniards pressed on valiantly, the cavalry cutting 
themselves a road through the enemy, where the intrepid 
Uttle body of foot followed them. For a moment the 
mass of savages rolled back on each side, like the Red 
Sea, and allowed the army to pass. But the next in- 
stant it billowed forth again to overwhelm the white 
men. 

The Tlascalans, almost at their own doors, fought 
furiously against the Aztec host. The Spanish infan- 
try, with bristling spears, stood like a rocky island in 
the surf, while small bodies of horse dashed this way 
and that against the thousands of savages. Sandoval 
did wonderful acts, managing his horse as if he were 
part of himself, as he plunged fearlessly wherever the 
fight was thickest. 

The sun climbed high in the heavens and turned the 
valley into an oven. The host of Aztecs seemed to in- 
crease with each moment, for, for every one killed ten 
took his place. The weary Spaniards, worn still more 
by the heat, began to despair, as the hours passed, of 
ever getting through the solid mass of men who opposed 
them. 

Cortes early in the action had received a severe wound 
in the head. Now he lost his horse. Without a pause 
he caught a pack-horse, threw himself on its back 
and was away again into the thick of the fight. His 
aim from the first had been to kill the Aztec chiefs, for 
he knew that a horde without leaders would be harm- 
less. As he swung back now into the melee, he saw in 
the middle of the throng a chief who, by every mark, was 



242 THE BOYS' PRESCOTT 

high in command ; his handsome feather-work cloak, the 
plumes on his helmet, the gold banner that rose from his 
shoulders, and the number of his followers, all showed 
his rank. Cortes turned to Sandoval, who was by his 
side. 

"There is our mark. Follow me!" he cried, and was 
off. Sandoval, Alvarado, Olid and Avila followed him. 

The tired horses answered to the spur and plunged 
fiercely once more into the host of Aztecs, who fell back 
in surprise at such a wild charge from men they had 
thought conquered. 

"St. Jago, and at them!" cried the Spaniards, and 
cut their way through the mass of warriors to the chief. 
One blow from Cortes' spear brought him to the ground, 
and his guard, struck with terror, turned and fled. 

A very young knight riding close to Cortes killed the 
chief and gave to Cortes the gold banner the cacique 
had worn on his shoulder. The deed was seen all over 
the field, and the Indians, filled with panic, turned to 
run, trampling one another in their eagerness to escape. 

The Spaniards and Tlascalans forgot how tired they 
were and started in pursuit, driving the foe before them 
like sheep until Cortes recalled them. The battle field 
was strewn with the riches of the chiefs who had been 
slain; with gold ornaments, gems and feather- work 
mantles. Cortes let his men repay themselves for the 
treasure they had lost in coming out of Mexico before 
he called them again back to their companies, where 
Father Olmedo offered thanks to God for their wonder- 
ful protection. 

Then, as the sun was dropping in the west, the vic- 
torious little army set out once more on its march to 
Tlascala. 




'There is our mark. Follow me !' he cried" — Page ^^^ 



CHAPTEH XXIX 

MAXIXCA SAVES CORTES 
1520 

FORTUNATELY the army had only a short 
way to go before they found an Indian temple 
which gave them safe camp and undisturbed 
rest for the night. At dawn Cortes started them off 
again, for they must not stay too long in the enemy's 
country. 

Small bodies of Indians followed them as they 
marched, but they were not attacked. They found a 
spring before they had gone far, and the whole army 
shouted for joy, for plenty of cool water was hard to 
find in that dry region. Thus refreshed, they went 
steadily on until suddenly they came, as they had be- 
fore, right against the Tlascalan wall. 

The Tlascalans let out a ringing shout as they saw 
their home once more, and the Spaniards shouted with 
them, for were they not all brothers-in-arms ? The 
Tlascalans, since their common misfortunes, had 
shown more friendliness than ever for their white broth- 
ers. Cortes, however, wondered. He was bringing 
back about half the alhes he had taken out. If Tlas- 
cala wished to punish the Spaniards for leading its peo- 
ple to death and disaster, how could Cortes, with his 
feeble little army, resist them? 

"Thoughts like these," said Cortes afterward, 

243 



244. THE BOYS' PRESCOTT 

"weighed as heavily on my spirits as any which I ever 
experienced in going to battle with the Aztecs." 

Instead of showing his depression, he called his men 
together and gave them some advice, 

"Show all confidence in our allies," he said, "for their 
past conduct has afforded every ground for trusting 
their fidelity in the future. But, at the same time, take 
great care, now that our strength is so much impaired, 
that we give our high-spirited allies no ground for 
jealousy or hard feeling. Be but on your guard, and 
we have still stout hearts and strong hands to carry us 
through the midst of them." 

Then, with every show of serenity and courage, the 
army once more stepped from Aztec ground on to the 
soil of the Tlascalan Republic. 

At once they met kindness. The natives welcomed 
them with food and lodging. For two or three days 
they rested, until the old chief, Maxixca, heard of their 
arrival and came, with the young Xicotencatl and a 
large retinue, to welcome them. 

"We have made common cause together," Maxixca 
said as he embraced Cortes, "and we have common in- 
juries to avenge; come weal or woe, be assured we will 
prove true and loyal friends and stand by you to the 
death. That you could so long withstand the confed- 
erated power of the Aztecs is proof of your marvelous 
prowess." 

Cortes gratefully accepted Maxixca's invitation to 
the capital, and went on under Maxixca's escort, the 
wounded carried in hammocks by Indian porters. 
Cortes and his guard were lodged in Maxixca's own 
palace; the other Spaniards were given quarters in his 
district of the city. 



MAXIXCA SAVES CORTES 245 

For a good many weeks the Spaniards rested in 
Tlascala and nursed their wounds. The blow Cortes 
had received on his head at Otumba sent him to bed with 
an alarming fever. But his sound constitution and un- 
faltering courage put him on his feet again. While he 
lay in bed he was making plans for his return to Mexico. 

Cortes found, on his recovery, that Leon's treasure, 
which he had left in Tlascala, was gone. The soldiers 
had tried to carry it to Mexico and had been killed by 
the Aztecs. All that the army had now was what had 
been taken at Otumba. With this the soldiers repaid 
Tlascalan kindness. Cortes especially made Maxixca 
happy by giving him the gold banner taken from the 
chief overthrown in the battle. Such an Aztec trophy 
was dear to the heart of a Tlascalan. 

While the Spaniards were resting in Tlascala, 
Cuitlahua, lawful Emperor of the Aztecs since Monte- 
zuma's death, was busily employed in restoring Mexico, 
rebuilding the houses and making new bridges. He 
was putting the city into a state of defense, and training 
his men into better discipline against the time when they 
should again meet the Spaniards. Cuitlahua called on 
his vassals far and near to rally to his standard. Those 
near Tenochtitlan obeyed him, for they were afraid not 
to; but those at a distance, hating the Mexican yoke, 
took this time to throw over their allegiance. 

When Cuitlahua saw that all his subjects were not 
going to stand by him, he determined to try and win 
over the Tlascalans. To the four rulers of the republic 
he sent an embassy of Aztec nobles, with presents of 
cotton-cloth and salt — which the Tlascalans had not 
been able to get for many years — and asking help 
against the Spaniards. 



246 THE BOYS' PRESCOTT 

Cortes heard with anxiety of their coming, for in all 
his plans the Tlascalans were his surest reliance. He 
wanted to punish the Indians who had killed the five 
soldiers with Leon's treasure; he wanted to punish the 
Tepeacans who had just murdered a body of twelve 
Spaniards; he wanted to go back to Mexico. He had 
heard nothing from his letter sent to the King of Spain; 
he had not heard from the messenger he had sent out, 
whether Vera Cruz had been taken by the enemy. He 
had no one to depend on but Tlascala. If the republic 
bought an easy peace with Mexico, it would mean the 
extermination of the Spaniards. Cortes knew that the 
younger Xicotencatl still hated the Spaniards, and that 
the j^oung chiefs, who were Xicotencatl's friends, were 
of his mind. 

"After ail the calamities that these strangers have 
brought upon us, are we now to be burdened with their 
maintenance?" the}'' were asking. 

The young Tlascalans were not the only ones who 
fretted. The Narvaez men, recovered from their 
wounds, began to clamor for a return to Cuba to those 
peaceful farms thej^ had left for this uneasy life of ad- 
venture, which so far had brought them neither gain 
nor glory. Their grumbling broke out into open 
mutiny when Cortes' messenger came back saying Vera 
Cruz was safe, and Cortes at once sent him back with 
an order to the Governor of the city to send reinforce- 
ments to Tlascala. They prepared a formal paper 
which they sent to Cortes. 

"How foolish," they said, "to think of going forward 
with our thin ranks against a nation like the Aztecs, 
who even now are sending envoys to Tlascala to make 
this country their ally. The Aztecs will accompHsh 



MAXIXCA SAVES CORTES 247 

their purpose doubtless, for do we not hear every day- 
how tired Tlascala is getting of feeding us? It is use- 
less to wait for reinforcements from Vera Cruz, when 
that city may at any moment be overwhelmed and taken. 
Let us return to Vera Cruz and strengthen that 
garrison and wait there for help from home. If it 
does not come, we can go back from Vera Cruz to 
Cuba." 

Cortes read this paper, very sorry to see that Duero's 
name headed it. But it did not in any way turn him. 
He knew that if he took his army back to the coast, it 
would be only a question of tirne before it would find 
some wa}^ of getting back to Cuba, leaving him a ruined 
man. For him there was no going back. If he suc- 
ceeded in taking Mexico, Charles V might forgive the 
way he had taken things into his own hands; if he 
failed, he had both the King and Velasquez to reckon 
with. 

He met the protest in his usual calm fashion, 
"Can we with honor," he asked, "desert our allies 
whom we have involved in war and leave them unpro- 
tected to the vengeance of the Aztecs ? Remember, 
too, that if we have recently met with reverses, up to 
this point I have accomplished all and more than all I 
have promised. It will be easy to retrieve our losses, 
if we have patience, and abide in this friendly land until 
the reinforcements, which will be ready to come in at 
my call, shall enable us to act on the offensive. If, how- 
ever, there are any so insensible to the motives which 
touch a brave man's heart, as to prefer ease at home, to 
the glory of this great achievement, I would not stand 
in their way. Go in God's name. Leave your general 
in his extremity. I shall feel stronger in the service of 



248 THE BOYS' PRESCOTT 

a few brave spirits than if surrounded by a host of the 
false or the faint-hearted." 

Cortes' veterans answered him with enthusiasm, 
pledging themselves to stand by him to the last. Their 
indignation shamed the Narvaez men into giving their 
promise, also, to remain for the present if they might 
be allowed to go when thej^ wished. 

This trouble over for the time, Cortes waited to hear 
what the Tlascalans would answer to the Aztec envoys. 
The Mexicans presented their cause to the coimcil. 

"Let us bury past grievances," they said, "and enter 
into a treaty. Let all the nations of Anahuac make 
common cause in defense of their country against the 
white men. You will bring down on your own heads 
the wrath of the gods if you longer harbor the strangers 
who have violated and destroyed our temples. If you 
count on the support and friendship of your guests, take 
warning from the fate of Mexico, which received them 
kindly within its walls, and which, in return, they filled 
with blood and ashes. We conjure you, by your rever- 
ence for our common religion, not to suffer the white 
men, disabled as they now are, to escape from your 
hands, but to sacrifice them at once to the gods, whose 
temples they have profaned." 

The councilors listened judicially to the harangue 
and weighed the promises of friendship offered by the 
Aztecs in return for the Tlascalan help in destroying 
the white men. Then sending the envoys out from the 
council, they debated the matter. 

There were two parties in the assembly. The older 
and more thoughtful men were headed by Maxixca; 
the young chiefs, ready for any rash action, followed the 
younger Xicotencatl. 



MAXIXCA SAVES CORTES 249 

"Shall we trust the Aztecs?" Maxixca asked. "They 
are only playing their old part — fair in speech, false in 
heart. Fear drives them now to seek our friendship. 
When the fear is gone, they will crush Tlascala as they 
have always done. The white men have showed them- 
selves always friendly ; they have fought the enemies of 
Tlascala. Shall we now betray them to the Aztecs?" 

All the older chiefs agreed with Maxixca — even 
Xicotencatl's blind father. But the words provoked 
the younger Xicotencatl to anger. We can imagine 
what he would answer. 

"The white men will destro}^ our religion and our 
country. So sacrilegious an alliance can bring no good 
to Tlascala." 

His friends applauded him. Maxixca answered, and 
Xicotencatl replied even more sharply than before. 

The old chief did not waste more time in argument. 
He rose and thrust Xicotencatl from the room, and no 
one reproved him for the act. 

'No one dared stand b)?- Xicotencatl who had been so 
openly disgraced. When the matter was put to vote, 
even Xicotencatl's friends voted to reject the proposals 
of the Aztecs and to stand by the Spaniards. 

So once more Cortes, by his power of making friends, 
had come safely through a great peril. 



CHAPTER XXX 

CORTES TAKES TEZCUCO 

1520 

WHEN the Aztec envoys had departed, Cortes 
drew a long breath and set Martin Lopez to 
work at new ships. There were to be thir- 
teen brigantines this time. Lopez was to build them in 
Tlaseala, test them, take them apart in sections, and 
send the ship thus on the backs of Indian porters to 
Tezcuco. The iron work, sails and rigging were to 
come from Xarvaez' ships at Vera Cruz. Cortes would 
not again trust himself in the causeway-city of Teno- 
chtitlan without some means of getting out. 

With a thought of keeping his men employed until 
he was ready for a second march to Mexico, Cortes set 
a force in order to punish the Tepeacan Indians who 
had killed the twelve Spaniards. The Tepeacans had 
sworn allegiance to Spain when Cortes first came into 
the country, so in this unprovoked attack they were 
guilty of rebellion as well as murder. 

The general issued a proclamation before he started 
out, promising pardon to all tribes ready to return to 
the Spanish rule. The Tepeacans sneered at it. 

"Come out and meet us in open fight," they answered. 
"We need victims for our sacrifices." 

After that, Cortes did not hesitate. At the head of 
a small body of Spaniards and a large body of Tlascal- 
ans, he took the field. Xicotencatl went with him, per- 

250 



CORTES TAKES TEZCUCO 251 

haps to take a lesson in tactics from one of the few men 
who had ever heaten him. He had chosen a good mas- 
ter. Cortes in one battle crushed the Tepeacans, and 
quartered his army at their capital, Tepeaca, as it was 
rich and was close to the Aztec frontier, against which 
Cortes knew he must protect himself. 

Cuitlahua had already garrisoned all the towns along 
his border with large bodies of Aztec troops, who, as 
usual, were making themselves very unpopular by their 
arrogance. One city in particular, Quauhquechollan, 
sent word to Cortes that the people so hated the Aztecs, 
that if the Spaniards would attack the city from with- 
out, the inhabitants would rise within, and between 
them they would crush the Aztec garrison. 

Quauhquechollan lay at the end of a deep valley, with 
a river on each side, mountains behind and a strong wall 
in front. Cortes sent Olid across the border with two 
hundred Spaniards and a large Tlascalan force to help 
the cacique of Quauhquechollan. 

As Olid marched, one Cholulan chief after another 
joined his ranks. He remembered their earlier treach- 
ery and, suspecting them again, not only refused their 
help, but sent them as prisoners to Cortes. 

Cortes made a careful investigation and found that 
Olid had been wrong. After apologizing for the oc- 
currence, and sending the chiefs home with many pres- 
ents, Cortes, unwilling to risk another mistake like that, 
put himself at the head of the expedition against the 
Mexican garrison at Quauhquechollan. 

The cacique was on the watch. As soon as the Span- 
iards entered the plain before the town, he roused the 
citizens, who pushed the garrison so hard that they fled 
to the temple and entrenched themselves there. Cortes, 



252 THE BOYS' PRESCOTT 

admitted into the city, assaulted the temple and killed 
every Aztec of the garrison. 

When the Aztec troops quartered in neighboring 
cities saw what had happened to their comrades in 
Quauhquechollan, they gathered in force on the plain to 
attack the Tlascalans whom Cortes had left outside the 
city. The Aztecs were thirty thousand strong, gay in 
their gold and jewels, their plumes and feather cloaks. 
The Tlascalans were having a hard time to hold their 
ground, until Cortes rushed from the city and with his 
cavalry pressed the Aztecs back into a narrow mountain 
gorge. The light Spanish troops then ran up the moun- 
tain on each side and poured down their fire from above 
while the Tlascalans attacked in front. Only a few 
of the J^iexicans escaped up the steep mountain side and 
fled back to their camp, where the Spaniards followed 
them, and loaded themselves with the booty of the van- 
quished chiefs. 

Still another city Cortes stormed and took, bringing 
away loads of plunder. Sandoval, too, made many suc- 
cessful excursions. The result was that most of the 
tribes of that region fell away from the Aztec Emperor 
and acknowledged the authority of the white captain, 
who led always to victory and plunder, and who dis- 
tributed justice instead of punishment to his vassals. 
One cacique after another came to him for help and 
advice, until Cortes was as much the real ruler of this 
whole district as he had been for a little while in Mexico. 

This power became in Cortes' hands a new weapon 
against the Aztecs. He was sure now not only of thou- 
sands of Tlascalan recruits, but he could count also on 
these other tribes as allies against their Mexican op- 
pressors. He busied himself in teaching them some- 



CORTES TAKES TEZCUCO 253 

thing of his tactics and implicit obedience to his word. 

Just at this time Maxixca died of smallpox, which a 
negro in Narvaez' company had brought into Cem- 
poalla, whence it had spread through the country. The 
disease went even up to Tenochtitlan and killed the 
Emperor, Cuitlahua, after a reign of four months. 
Guatemozin was made Emperor in Cuitlahua's place. 
Though Guatemozin was but twenty-five years old, he 
was an experienced warrior, and had been active 
through all the overthrow of Spanish power. He had 
married Montezuma's daughter. He carried steadily 
forward the plans for strengthening and protecting 
Mexico. 

Maxixca's death was a great loss to the Spaniards, 
for he had been their true friend. They all appeared 
at his funeral in deep mourning, and this token of respect 
bound the Tlascalans more firmly to the Spaniards. It 
was a comfort to the Christians that Maxixca had re- 
ceived baptism from Father Olmedo and had died with 
the cross before his eyes, commending to his son the 
white men whom he had loved. The boy was but twelve 
years old, but Cortes confirmed him as successor to his 
father's position. He also was baptized into the Chris- 
tian faith and received knighthood from Cortes' hand. 

Although Cortes was carrying forward his plans so 
successfully with his allies, the grumblers among his 
soldiers — Duero was of the number — still demanded to 
go back to Cuba. Cortes let them go, for with his own 
veterans and his thousands of staunch Indian allies, he 
felt ready for his new expedition. He sent Alvarado 
to guard the weak-hearted ones to Vera Cruz, and or- 
dered a vessel to be provisioned and fitted out there and 
placed at their disposal, 



254 THE BOYS' PRESCOTT 

As these men went, others took their places. Two 
vessels sent out by Velasquez, with letters for Narvaez, 
as well as a ship from the Governor of Jamaica, sailed 
confidently into Vera Cruz. The Governor of Vera 
Cruz let the men land and then told them that Cortes 
and not Narvaez was in command. As what they 
wanted was gold, they were quite willing to take Cortes 
for their leader and to go up to Tlascala to enlist. 

And even this was not all, for the captain of a ship 
full of military stores, hearing of Cortes' success, in- 
stead of selling his wares in Cuba as he had intended, 
brought them to Vera Cruz. Cortes bought ship and 
cargo and induced the crew to add themselves to his 
army. Thus he added to his forces a hundred and fifty 
well-equipped men, twenty horses and a fresh supply 
of ammunition. 

To add to these stores, Cortes set his men to work 
making new firearms and repairing the old. He 
wanted more gunpowder, too, and lacked sulphur for it. 
So he sent four men, under Montano, back to Popo- 
catepetl. They climbed the mountain to the edge of 
the crater — an ellipse three miles long — and looked down 
almost a thousand feet at the lurid flames at the bottom. 
The steam rising from this flame had formed sulphur 
crystals on the side of the crater, and those were what 
the men wanted. They cast lots as to who should go 
down. Montano drew the lot, and was let down in a 
basket four hundred feet into the crater and drawn up 
again several times before the party had all the sulphur 
they needed to carry back to Tlascala. 

In a second letter that Cortes wrote to the King of 
Spain he spoke of getting the sulphur from the volcano 
and suggested that it would be a little more convenient 



CORTES TAKES TEZCUCO 255 

to receive his sulphur from home. He made hght of 
all his adventures, however, saying he did not count 
danger and fatigue against the conquering of JMexico, 
of which he was sure. He ended with a request for a 
commission to be sent out to establish his right to what 
he had gained. 

With Cortes' letter went another, signed by nearly 
every officer and soldier in camp, saying that Velazquez 
had interfered from the start with Cortes' efforts for 
the King, and begging that Cortes' authority might be 
confirmed by the crown, for he, by his knowledge of 
Mexico, his own character and the love he inspired in his 
soldiers, was the man who could conquer Mexico. But 
it was not until many months later, when Cortes had 
really conquered Mexico, that he had an answer to his 
letters. Then Charles V sent him the commission he 
asked for. 

It had been on the first day of July^ 1520, that the 
Spaniards had left Tenochtitlan in their attempt to es- 
cape over the causeway. By Christmas of that year 
Cortes, after six months of drilling and preparation, 
was ready to go back to Mexico with a better army than 
his first. He had six hundred Spaniards, forty cavalry, 
eighty foot-soldiers armed with crossbows and arque- 
buses, and four hundred and eighty carrying swords or 
the long copper-headed pikes. His artillery consisted 
of nine guns. His allies from Tlascala, Tepeaca and 
other places counted a hundred thousand, armed with 
bows and arrows, pikes and their barbed clubs. Cortes 
was not ready to take all the Indians with him now, 
as he did not wish to feed so great a multitude until the 
arrival of the brigantines should make it possible for 
him to move finally against Tenochtitlan. 



256 THE BOYS' PRESCOTT 

Cortes reviewed his troops and made one of his stir- 
ring speeches. 

"You march against rebels," he said, "against the 
enemies of your King and your rehgion. And you go 
to fight not only the battles of the crown and of the 
cross, but your own as well; to wipe away the stain 
from your arms; to avenge your dear companions 
butchered on the field or on the accursed altar of sacri- 
fice ; to gain riches and renown in this life and imperish- 
able glory in that to come." 

The soldiers with shouts promised that they would 
this time conquer or leave their bones with those of their 
companions in the waters of Lake Tezcuco, and with 
colors flying and music playing, on the 28th of Decem- 
ber, the army marched out of Tlascala and took its way 
to Tezcuco, which, on account of its easy access from 
Tlascala, Cortes meant to occupy as his headquarters. 

Up the steep, rough trail over the mountains, the 
army toiled as they had before, through the cold and 
the storm, then down an even rougher path on the op- 
posite slope, till they came into milder climate and 
softer country, and at last out on the plain that com- 
manded the whole valley of Mexico, lying quiet and sun- 
lit in the hills which surrounded it. But on every hill- 
top there was a beacon fire. 

With his usual care against surprise, Cortes led his 
troops around the turns of the hills and through the for- 
ests, for the beacon fires showed him that Mexico knew 
of his approach, and that at any moment he might come 
upon an ambush. When he got down the mountain 
safely, he expected to see the plain covered with war- 
riors as it had been at Otumba. But no one opposed the 
Spaniards. On they went, until about ten miles from 



CORTES TAKES TEZCUCO 257 

Tezcuco, they reached a small town where they camped 
for the night. Cortes did not close his eyes. He was 
wondering what was waiting for him in Tezcuco. 

Cacama and Cuicuitzca, who had each in turn been 
King of Tezcuco, Cortes had carried with him out of 
Tenochtitlan on "The Melancholy Night." Cacama 
had been killed on the causeway. Cuicuitzca, who got 
through alive, had soon grown homesick in the Spanish 
camp and had run away back to Tezcuco, where his 
brother, Coanaco, had been made King of Tezcuco by 
the Aztec Emperor. Coanaco had not been glad to see 
his brother, Cuicuitzca, but had immediately put him to 
death. There was still a fourth son of ISTezahualpilli, 
named Ixtlilzochitl, who had offered his services to 
Cortes when the Spaniards first came into Tlascala and 
who had ever since remained with Cortes. As Coanaco^ 
the present King, was a strong ally of Guatemozin, he 
was not likely to welcome the Spaniards very cordially 
to his city. 

However, when morning came, instead of an attack, 
there came a party of nobles with a golden flag of truce 
to invite Cortes to take up his quarters in Tezcuco and 
to promise that, if Cortes would spare the province, 
Coanaco would swear allegiance to the King of Spain. 
The nobles asked Cortes to stay where he was until the 
next day that Coanaco might have time to prepare a 
fitting reception for the white men. 

Cortes accepted the invitation to visit the capital, but 
instead of waiting until the next day, he put his army 
at once into marching order and at noon on the last 
day of December, 1520, he entered the city of Tezcuco. 

Once before — at the time when he had answered Al- 
varado's plea for help — Cortes had marched through 



258 THE BOYS' PRESCOTT 

Tezcuco and found it silent and empty. Now it was 
even worse. Cortes was quartered in the old palace 
of Nezahualpilli, but no nobles came to meet him and 
the King was not to be seen. The general at once sent 
some soldiers up to the top of the temple to see what 
was going on. They brought back the report that every 
one was fleeing from the city, either to the mountains or 
across the lake. Cortes placed guards in the principal 
streets to capture Coanaco. But it was too late ; he was 
gone. 

As Coanaco had slipped through his hands, Cortes 
proclaimed that Coanaco was no longer King of 
Tezcuco, and put in his place Ixtlilzochitl, who was in- 
deed the rightful heir as he stood next to Cacama in age. 
Under his friendly authority, Cortes set about making 
himself master of Tezcuco. 



CHAPTER XXXI 

THE BRINGING OF THE BRIGANTINES 
1521 

THE Tezcucans swore allegiance to their new 
King, Ixtlilzochitl, and acknowledged Cortes' 
authority. He did not wholly trust, however, a 
nation so closely connected with Mexico, and began at 
once to put his quarters into a state of defense against 
attack. That done, as Tezcuco was about a mile back 
from the shore, he set the allies at digging a canal from 
the town to the lake, so that he should have a waterway 
for the brigantines when they were brought up to 
Tezcuco. 

Then, made safe at home, Cortes, while he waited for 
his ships, started out to crush the neighboring tribes, 
that they might not threaten his rear when he was ready 
to attack Tenochtitlan. 

His first move was against Iztapalapan on the narrow 
isthmus that divided an arm of the salt lake of Tezcuco 
from the fresh water of Lake Chalco lying to the west 
of it. This city had belonged to Montezuma's brother, 
Cuitlahua, who had welcomed Cortes there on his first 
visit to Mexico, before he had learned to hate the white 
men. Now, although Cuitlahua was dead, the city was 
most unfriendly to the Spaniards. Cortes, leaving 
Sandoval in charge at Tezcuco, marched against 
Iztapalapan at the head of two hundred Spanish foot, 
eighteen horse and four thousand Tlascalans. 

259 



260 THE BOYS' PRESCOTT 

Within a few miles of Iztapalapan the army met a 
body of opposing Aztecs, who were easily pushed back, 
and Cortes pursued them as far as Iztapalapan. On 
the causeway just outside the city he met great num- 
bers of Aztecs with their canoes, whom, as they offered 
no resistance, the Spaniards passed without notice as 
they swept pellmell into the city after their flying foe. 

Once in their own town, the Aztecs turned, but in the 
hand to hand fight which followed they proved no match 
for their enemy. The Spaniards killed them by hun- 
dreds, set fire to the houses, and by the glare of the flames 
plundered the town, until they were loaded with treas- 
ure. 

It was while they were loading themselves with treas- 
ure that some one heard a queer sound and stopped to 
listen. The Indians knew at once what it was. 

"The dykes are broken through," they cried. 

Then Cortes understood. The Indians in canoes 
whom he had seen at the causeway had been busy mak- 
ing a hole in the dyke so that all the salt waters of Lake 
Tezcuco could pour in on the city of Iztapalapan. And 
now the flood was upon them. 

Cortes sounded a retreat. It was night by this time, 
and the men must have had their minds filled with 
thoughts of the "melancholy night" on the dyke of 
Tlacopan. This night was as dark and looked as hope- 
less. When the Spaniards left behind the light of the 
burning houses, they had nothing to guide their steps. 
They stumbled along up to their belts in water, drop- 
ping as they went the treasure they had gathered. 
When they reached the breach in the dyke through 
which the water was sweeping like a river, there was no 
escape but by swimming. Those who could swim 



BRINGING THE BRIGANTINES 261 

reached the farther side of the causeway, cold and ex- 
hausted, powder wet and treasure gone. 

They dragged themselves wearily along till down, 
when they saw the lake swarming with Aztec canoes 
filled with warriors, who showered them with stones and 
arrows. The Spanish army kept on its march without 
returning fire, anxious only to get back to their warm, 
dry quarters at Tezcuco. It was night before they ar- 
rived. 

Although the attack on Iztapalapan had seemingly 
ended so disastrously, it had actually accomplished much 
for Cortes. The neighboring tribes saw one of the finest 
cities of the region laid in ruins, and hastily sent envoys 
to Cortes offering him their allegiance. Even the peo- 
ple of Otumba who had opposed him in the great fight, 
and the city of Chalco lying on the east shore of the lake 
of Chalco, one of the most important towns of the re- 
gion, begged for his friendship. 

Guatemozin had put an Aztec garrison into Chalco, 
and the cacique of the place offered his submission to 
Cortes if he would drive out the garrison. Cortes sent 
Sandoval to their help. He routed a large body of 
Mexicans drawn up in a cornfield to oppose his entrance 
into the city, and once in Chalco, found that the cacique 
was dead and the Aztec garrison had run away. San- 
doval, glad of such an easy victory, took back with him 
to Tezcuco two young sons of the cacique who had died 
lamenting that he had never seen Malinche and urging 
his sons to pay their tribute to the white captain. 

The young nobles were ready to acknowledge the 
Spanish rule, but they said, very justly, that they should 
need in return Spanish protection against Aztec ven- 
geance. 



262 THE BOYS' PRESCOTT 

To Cortes' ever active mind there came the thought 
of joining the tribes of this region in a defensive league. 
Some asked his help, others offered him recruits that 
he did not need. He could not well spare his men to 
guard Chalco and other weak cities, but the offered al- 
lies might well help the cities who needed protection. 
As each tribe was at odds with every other tribe and 
hated it only less than it hated the Aztecs, it took much 
tact and argument to make them forget their grievances 
and unite in a common league. 

"You are now vassals of the same sovereign," Cortes 
said, "engaged in a common enterprise against the for- 
midable foe who has so long trodden you in the dust. 
You must forget your quarrels with one another, for, 
singly, you can do little against the Aztecs, but, united, 
you can protect each other's weakness and hold the 
enemy at bay till the Spaniards can come to your as- 
sistance." 

Cortes' wisdom prevailed. Feuds ceased and old- 
time enemies became warm friends, as one tribe after 
another fell away from Aztec rule and, under Cortes' 
protection, joined the new Chalcan league. 

Cortes tried, too, his powers of persuasion with Gua- 
temozin. From his first embassy he heard nothing. He 
sent a second, promising to respect the rights of all 
Aztecs and to uphold Guatemozin's authority as King, 
if. Guatemozin would swear allegiance to Charles V of 
Spain. Again the Emperor sent Cortes no direct an- 
swer. He showed his contempt by publishing an edict 
that every Christian taken in Mexico should be sent to 
the capital to be sacrificed. 

And then came news to Cortes that Lopez had made 



BRINGING THE BRIGANTINES 263 

the brigantines, proved them sea-worthy, and had then 
taken them apart ready to send to Tezcuco. 

It was Sandoval whom Cortes chose to go back to 
Tlascala for the ships, for young as he was, he had al- 
ready proved his corn-age, coolness and good judgment. 

Sandoval made the march in quick time, and as he 
crossed the borders of Tlascala he saw approaching the 
gay banners of a body of Tlascalan warriors who, tired 
of waiting for him, were coming with the vessels to meet 
him, under the leadership of a noble named Chiche- 
mecatl. Sandoval received the ships, and then dis- 
missed some of the convoy, keeping twenty thousand 
men, whom he divided into two parties as guards, one to 
go before the ships and one behind. Chichemecatl he 
placed first in the van, but later changed him to the rear 
where Sandoval thought he would be more useful. The 
Indian warrior was rather insulted by the change, for 
he thought his place was in front, even though Sandoval 
explained that the rear was the post of danger and that 
he himself should march there. But his hurt feelings 
did not touch his loyalty. 

With the heavy ships in sections on the backs of the 
Indian porters, Sandoval with his army traveled slowly 
up the mountains from Tlascala and down again on the 
other side to the valley of Mexico until, in four days, the 
party reached Tezcuco. The enemy hovered in their 
rear all through the march but did not attack them. 

Cortes* joy knew no bounds when he heard that his 
ships were approaching Tezcuco. He might well re- 
joice that his plans had come out so well, for it was no 
light task to build thirteen ships in one place, take them 
apart, and send them on men's backs, through untrodden 



264 THE BOYS' PRESCOTT 

forests and over steep mountains, to a city sixty miles 
away. 

Dressed in his best clothes, Cortes with all his officers 
went to meet the convoy, which stretched out for six 
miles along the road. The Tlascalan chiefs in their 
holiday attire were as brilliant as the Spanish cavaliers. 
It took six hours for the whole train to enter the city, 
marching with banners flying and music playing, while 
the whole host, Indians and white men, set up the ring- 
ing shout "Castile and Tlascala! Long live our sover- 
eign the King!" 

The twenty thousand Tlascalans were eager to push 
immediately against Mexico. "We come," they said, 
"to fight under your banners; to avenge our common 
quarrel or to fall by your side. Lead us at once against 
the enemy." 

"Wait till you are rested," promised the general, 
"and you shall have your hands full." 

For with his ships in the city, and so many friendly 
tribes outside, with Spanish cavaher and Tlascalan ally 
at his back, Cortes was ready at last to advance against 
Mexico. 



CHAPTER XXXII 

COETES PICKS OUT HIS POSITIONS 
1521 

IT was spring by this time, and still Cortes had had 
no response to either of the letters he had written to 
the King of Spain. The second letter was, indeed, 
still on the way, and the carriers of the first letter — 
Monte jo and Puertocarrero — were at this time in Spain, 
pouring into one ear of Charles V their praises of Cortes, 
while into the other ear Fonseca, the Bishop of Burgos, 
poured his complaints of the general. Charles, confused 
between the two, was doing nothing either way. 

Cortes, however, did not sit still and wait. He had 
a very definite plan in mind, and after he had given the 
convoy a few days of rest, he started to carry it out. 
His brigantines now made it possible for him to assault 
Tenochtitlan from the water side, but he must know, 
too, all about the approaches to the city from the land 
side. His plan was to march around the northern end 
of Lake Tezcuco and down the west shore till he came to 
the city of Tlacopan at the end of the Tlacopan dyke. 
He must take that city, for it would be an important 
place for him. From Tlacopan he meant to come back 
to Tezcuco. Then, making a fresh start, he would 
march around the southern end of the lake and up on 
the west shore to Tlacopan again. In this way he would 
circle the entire lake and find out what places he must 
choose as his bases when he began hk blockade of Teno^ 

m 



266 THE BOYS' PRESCOTT 

chtitlan. And as he marched, he meant to pmiish the 
tribes who had been unfriendly to him. 

He left Sandoval in charge of Tezcuco and took Al- 
varado with him. He marched with the greatest cau- 
tion around the northern end of the lake, camping by 
night in the open fields where he could not be taken by 
surprise. Everywhere beacons on the hilltops heralded 
his coming. 

But although the whole country was in arms against 
the white men, Cortes found little opposition until he 
reached Tlacopan, where a large force of Indians were 
drawn up to dispute his passage. However one cavalry 
charge routed them, and Cortes entered the city and 
took possession. It was the same place the Spaniards 
had passed through on the "melancholy night," afraid 
then to stop. 'Now they tranquilly made camp, sure of 
their ability to hold Tlacopan. In the morning they 
were again attacked by the Aztecs, and once more beat 
them off. 

A day or two later the Indians attacked again. Made 
confident by their former easy victories, the white men 
advanced in force, and pursued their flying foe along the 
Tlacopan dyke that led into Tenochtitlan. After they 
had passed the first bridge, the Aztecs, reinforced by 
troops from the city, suddenly turned on their pursuers. 
They were aided by warriors in canoes which swarmed 
on both sides of the causeway. It was with great dif- 
ficulty that Cortes fought his way back along the un- 
lucky dyke to the camp at Tlacopan. 

Before he left Tlacopan, Cortes tried his best to have 
an interview with Guatemozin, but the haughty young 
Emperor paid no attention to the general's invitation. 
Cortes approached a body of warriors one day with a 



CORTES PICKS OUT HIS POSITIONS 267 

flag of truce, asking if there were any great chief in the 
party who would confer with him. 

*'We are all chiefs," they sneered. "Why does not 
JMalinche make another visit to Tenochtitlan ? Perhaps 
he does not expect to find there another Montezuma as 
obedient to his commands as the former Montezuma." 

With a final taunt to the Tlascalans as "women" who 
were afraid to come to Tenochtitlan unprotected, they 
withdrew. 

Cortes stayed six days in Tlacopan, gathering news 
of the capital and then, laden with booty, went back to 
Tezcuco by the same northern route over which he had 
come, skirmishing as he went. Once back in Tezcuco, 
the Tlascalans wanted to carry their share of treasure 
home to Tlascala and Cortes had to let them go. 

He had been back in Tezcuco only a day or two when a 
message came from Chalco, asking the Spanish help 
against several Aztec strongholds, which, perched high 
on the mountains, sent out men like swarms of hornets 
to sting and fly back to their nest. The Spaniards were 
too tired with their march to undertake another expe- 
dition at once, and Cortes sent messengers around 
through the tribes who had leagued together for defense 
telling them that now was the time to take a stand for 
Chalco. 

But, though the league did its best, Chalco, not sat- 
isfied with Indian help, sent another petition to Cortes. 
His men were rested by this time, and he sent Sandoval 
with three hundred foot and twenty horse to Chalco's 
help. Chalco was ahnost as necessary as Tlacopan to 
Cortes, for it lay on the great thoroughfare to Tlascala 
and Vera Cruz, and he could not afford to let it fall into 
Aztec hands again. Sandoval went to Chalco for re- 



268 THE BOYS' PRESCOTT 

cruits, and then attacked and captured Huaxtepec, 
which he occupied, taking up his own quarters in the 
magnificent palace of the cacique built in the midst of 
wonderful gardens. 

After a day or two here for rest, Sandoval led his 
forces against one of the "hornets' nests." It was a 
little fort perched so high on a mountain crag as to be 
almost inaccessible. The Spaniards pushed up the side 
of the mountain, to be met by huge rocks rolled down 
on them by the Aztec garrison above. The Indian al- 
lies, unable to stand the shock, fell back. 

"We do not need them," Sandoval shouted to his own 
gallant little band, as he swung himself from his horse. 
"Nothing is too difficult for a Spaniard. We will carry 
the place or die in the attempt. St. Jago and at 
them!" 

His cavaliers followed him. Up they went, ignoring 
wounds and blows, pulling themselves up by bushes and 
sheltering, when possible, behind the rocks, until, breath- 
less, they gained the top and stood face to face with the 
astonished garrison. 

The struggle then was short, for everything went 
down before the Spanish swords, which could only be 
escaped by leaping over the parapets to the rocks below. 
Sandoval's victory was complete. He had done what 
Cortes had ordered, so he sent the Chalcan warriors 
home and took his own men back to Tezcuco. 

But Guatemozin knew that Chalco had sent its war- 
riors to attack the mountain fortress, and thought it a 
good time to march against Chalco. Fortunately the 
squadron of canoes he sent across the lake against Chalco 
did not arrive until the Chalcan warriors got home 
agairj, They were so dismayed, however, to see the 



CORTES PICKS OUT HIS POSITIONS 269 

Aztec fleet ready for assault, that they sent hot-foot 
again to Cortes for help. 

So it happened that when Sandoval came back with 
his story of victory, there came also the Chalcan mes- 
sengers asking for more aid. Cortes, thinking San- 
doval had not done aU his duty, sharply ordered him 
back to Chalco, and Sandoval, hurt at his general's in- 
justice, went without a word of explanation. 

Before he reached Chalco again, however, the In- 
dians of the league had met and defeated the Aztec 
army. Sandoval took several Aztec chiefs as prisoners 
and marched back to Tezcuco, where he went to his 
quarters without seeing Cortes. 

Cortes had had time in Sandoval's absence to find out 
how unjust he had been. There was none of his cap- 
tains on whom he really relied so much or whom he 
loved better, and when Sandoval came back, Cortes sent 
for him and told him so, apologizing for his rough 
words. Sandoval was frank and generous. He for- 
gave Cortes at once and the perfect friendship was re- 
stored. 

About this time Cortes had the good fortune to add to 
his army two hundred well armed men and seventy 
horses who had just landed at Vera Cruz. In the party 
was Julian de Alderete, the King's treasurer. 

Cortes now set out on his second excursion to Tlaco- 
pan by the southern route. Again he left Sandoval in 
charge, with orders to push on as fast as possible the 
eight thousand men who were building the canal and 
locks; and to guard as his life the brigantines in the 
stocks, for already two attempts had been made by 
Aztec spies to burn them. 

Cortes started April 5th, taking with him three hun- 



270 THE BOYS' PRESCOTT 

dred foot and thirty horse besides a large body of Tlasca- 
lan and Tezcucan troops. After one day's march he 
arrived in Chalco, where he held a council, telling the 
Indians of the league, through Marina and Aguilar, 
that he would soon be ready to begin his blockade of 
Mexico. Every tribe gladly promised its help. 

From Chalco he made a detour from his straight road 
to Tlacopan and went south into the mountains to see if 
he could destroy more "hornets', nests." He was not 
long in finding one hanging to the mountain side, and 
like Sandoval, he charged it. 

He met the same reception that Sandoval had, but the 
rocks that came down now on the scaling party were so 
huge that not even a Spaniard could stand against them. 
Corral, the ensign, who led the advance, had his banner 
torn to shreds, and finally Cortes had to call off his men. 

On the level plain below as they descended they found 
a huge force of Aztecs drawn up to oppose them. 
Cortes did not wait for an attack but with his cavalry 
spurred so fiercely at the enemy that they broke and 
scattered over the plain. The Spaniards did not pursue, 
for the day was hot and both men and horses were suf- 
fering for water. They went on a little way till they 
came to a grove of mulberry trees with a spring, and 
there they stopped to rest. 

Above them here also hung two craggj^ fortresses, 
which immediately began to pour down fire upon them. 
As soon as his men were rested, Cortes charged the 
larger of the two, thinking to retrieve his defeat of the 
morning. But once more he was driven back into his 
mulberry grove, leaving the enemy in possession of the 
heights. 

Cortes was awake at earliest dawn the next day. His 



CORTES PICKS OUT HIS POSITIONS 271 

first glance was toward the two fortresses and he saw, to 
his surprise, that in the night all the Indians in the 
smaller fortress had gone across to strengthen the forces 
in the larger one against renewed attack, and that the 
little fort was empty. Cortes was not the man to lose 
such a chance. Immediately he filled with his own 
musketeers and crossbowmen the position the Aztecs had 
deserted, and as soon as he saw the banner of Spain 
floating from the rock, he led the remainder of the army 
once more against the big fort that had yesterday re- 
pulsed him. 

This time he had his muskets on the neighboring crag 
to help him, and it was not long before the Spanish 
colors were flying, too, from the second pinnacle. He 
was so humane in his treatment of his prisoners that the 
first fort he had attacked the day before also sent in its 
submission. 

With so much accomplished, Cortes went on tiU he 
came to Huaxtepec which Sandoval had subdued. The 
cacique received the Spaniards kindly and lodged them 
in his own palace. After a few days' rest Cortes crossed 
the Cordilleras and went on for nine days exploring the 
country. 

On the ninth day they came to a city lying on the far 
side of a steep ravine. There had been bridges across, 
but the inhabitants of Quauhnahuac, hearing of the white 
men's coming, had broken them down. Far each way 
to the right and the left the Spaniards searched for a 
way across and found none. 

Presently a Tlascalan spied a huge tree on the other 
side of the ravine and just opposite it on their side an- 
other tree as big; as the two arched over the chasm some 
of their branches met. 



272 THE BOYS' PRESCOTT 

"I can cross by those trees," the Tlascalan said. 

To Cortes it looked as if only a squirrel could find a 
passage over, but he let the Indian try. Like a monkey 
he climbed out on one tree, reached a branch of the other 
swaying in the wind, and swung himself across. Several 
other Tlascalans followed. 

Then the Spaniards, thirty of them, heavy-armed as 
they were,- attempted the same feat. Only three slipped. 
The rest, white men and red, drew up in order on the 
opposite bank and marched against the city, while the 
remaining army set actively to work to mend one of the 
bridges. 

Quauhnahuac, not expecting foes to drop from the 
skies, was taken wholly unawares. It made a brave de- 
fense against the first force, but when the cavalry under 
Ohd and Tapia charged across the restored bridge, and 
Cortes followed with the rest of the army, the citizens 
gave up and fled to the mountains. Cortes did not pur- 
sue, nor did he go further out of his way. He led his 
army, loaded with treasure, back across the Cordilleras 
and once more took the road to Tlacopan. 

As they came again into the fertile, beautiful Mexican 
valley the city of Xochimilco, on an arm of the Tezcucan 
lake, lay directly in their path. Like Tenochtitlan, it 
was a water city with canals and causeways. As the 
Spaniards approached they were harassed by Indians, 
who gradually withdrew in the direction of the city. 

Cortes followed and reached the causeway which led 
into Xochimilco. Here he found before him a broken 
bridge and beyond it a barricade which sheltered a large 
body of Indian troops. The water was shallow, how- 
ever, and both cavalry and infantry got across the breach 
and stormed the barricade on the opposite side. The 



CORTES PICKS OUT HIS POSITIONS 273 

Indians fell back into the city and the Spaniards fol- 
lowed them pell-mell, leaving Cortes with a small force 
to guard the entrance. 

Suddenly from an unexpected quarter the Aztecs at- 
tacked Cortes and overwhelmed his little force. Cortes, 
unhorsed, received a blow on the head which for a mo- 
ment stumied him. In that moment an Aztec seized him 
and dragged him away. But the Tlascalans who could 
cross chasms on tree tops were quick at other things too. 
One of them sprang at Cortes' captor and engaged him 
till two of Cortes' servants came to his help, and finally 
the troops in the city heard the clamor and came dashing 
back to support their general. Cortes was rescued and 
the city taken. As Cortes could not find the Tlascalan 
who had saved him, he thought his patron saint, St. 
Peter, had come in disguise to his aid. 

It was still light when the Spaniards entered Xochi- 
milco. Cortes went at once to the top of the chief tem- 
ple to look out across the country. It was not a com- 
forting sight that met his eyes. The causeway was 
packed with Indian warriors and the lake dark with their 
canoes. Guatemozin, thinking he had the Spaniards 
trapped, was sending strong forces against them. 

Cortes spent the night without sleep, going the rounds 
of his doubled sentinels and looking after the armorers 
who were putting copper heads to the arrow shafts. The 
night passed without disturbance, but at the first dawn 
the Indians poured into the town and attacked the Span- 
iards in the narrow streets. 

The musketeers and the crossbow-men with their new 
copper-tipped arrows stood like a rock, pouring their 
fire into the enemy's ranks, until the cavalry came to 
their aid and by a fierce charge routed the foe. 



274s THE BOYS' PRESCOTT 

Far across the plain the Aztecs fled and the Spanish 
horse pursued, until from somewhere a new Aztec force 
sprang up, and heartened by these reinforcements, the 
Indians turned on their pursuers and swept them hack 
toward Xochimilco. 

Before they reached the city the fleeing Spaniards met 
the whole Spanish army coming to their aid. With that 
support at its back, once more the Spaniards turned on 
the Aztecs and the two armies met with the shock of a 
thunder-bolt. Back and forth they swayed, the war 
whoop of the savages mingling with the battle cry of 
the Spaniards, until finally the Indian army wavered, 
recoiled and then scattered. The white men turned the 
flight into a complete rout, before they returned to take 
up their quarters for the night in Xochimilco. 

It was one of the richest cities of Mexico. When the 
Spaniards left it four days later they were as heavily 
laden with spoil as on the night they had tried to carry 
their booty out of Tenochtitlan. Cortes wanted to have 
the treasure left behind as he knew it would expose the 
army to attack on the march. Finally, however, he 
yielded to the soldiers' grumbling. 

On they went, Cortes carefully examining the route. 
They passed the point where the dyke of Iztapalapan 
struck the mainland and went on to Cojohuacan, which 
was the southwestern terminus of the dyke that cut the 
causeway of Iztapalapan at Fort Xoloc. As Cojo- 
huacan was deserted, Cortes rested his troops there for 
a day or two while he reconnoitered the neighborhood. 
He even ventured on the causeway as far as Xoloc. He 
found the fort garrisoned by Aztecs, whom he drove out. 
As the causeway of Iztapalapan was dark with massed 
warriors, Cortes pushed no further toward the city, but 



CORTES PICKS OUT HIS POSITIONS 275 

he had found the spot he meant to occupy. The next 
da}^ the army left Cojohuacan and went on to Tlacopan. 
They had to fight for every inch they marched over, for 
they were harassed by bodies of Aztecs trying to re- 
cover the boot3^ In one skirmish Cortes was made sad 
by the loss of two of his own servants who had followed 
him from Cuba. 

It was not yet night when they reached Tlacopan. 
Cortes went as usual to the temple top to survey the 
country. As he looked abroad over the wonderful val- 
ley, with Tenochtitlan shining in its midst as a jewel, he 
sighed deeply. One of his soldiers, thinking he was still 
grieving for his servants, tried to soothe him. 

"Take comfort," he said, "it is after all but the for- 
tune of war." 

But Cortes' sorrow was deeper than could be brought 
about by his servants' death. He was looking back to 
the suffering and bloodshed which had already been and, 
as his thoughts went forward, he saw even worse things 
before his purpose could be accomplished and Mexico 
subjugated. 

"You are my witness," Cortes said to the soldier, 
"how often I have endeavored to persuade yonder capi- 
tal peacefully to submit. It fills me with grief, when I 
think of the toil and dangers my brave followers have 
yet to encounter before we can call it ours. But the time 
is come when we must put our hands to the work." 

Early the next morning Cortes started over the north- 
em road back to Tezcuco. Just outside of Tezcuco's 
gates they met Sandoval and Ixtlilzochitl bearing the 
eager news that the canal was ready, the ships finished 
and that there was nothing now to prevent Cortes from 
beginning the storming of Mexico. 



CHAPTER XXXIII 

CORTES PLANS HIS BLOCKADE 
1521 

ALTHOUGH such good news met Cortes on his 
way back to Tezcuco, once in the city he fell 
upon a plot which, if it had succeeded, would 
have stopped his plans entirely. 

There was a soldier — one of Narvaez' men — ^named 
Antonio Villafana, who was tired of life in Mexico and 
wanted to go back to Cuba. As soon as he began to 
grumble, he found others with grievances, until finally 
quite a party was formed against Cortes. They knew 
that they could not leave without his permission and as 
they were pretty sure that he would not grant it, they 
began to plan not only his assassination but the assassina- 
tion of his chief officers as well, so that no one might be 
left to punish the offenders. After the murder, a rela- 
tive of Velasquez' was to be put in Cortes' place so that 
Velasquez should overlook their offense. 

They made up a false package supposed to contain 
despatches which were to be presented to Cortes while 
he was at the table. While he was interested in open- 
ing the package the murderers were to fall on him, and, 
after he was killed, despatch Sandoval and Alvarado and 
Olid. They fixed the day for their plot soon after 
Cortes' return from Tlacopan. 

But, as at Vera Cruz, just as everything was ready 
one of the plotters repented and went to Cortes with the 

276 



CORTES PLANS HIS BLOCKADE 277 

whole plan, saying that there would be found in Villa- 
fana's keeping a paper with the names of all concerned 
in the plot. 

Cortes called for Sandoval and Alvarado and went di- 
rectly to Villafana's quarters. Villafana was there 
with three or four conspirators, who were instantly ar- 
rested. He himself as soon as he saw Cortes tried to 
swallow the paper with the list of names, but Cortes 
seized it before it reached the man's mouth. 

The general ran his eye over the list and read with 
grief the names of many whom he had thought his 
friends. Then he destroyed the paper utterly. Villa- 
fana was at once court-martialed, condemned and hanged 
from the window of his own quarters. Cortes then 
called his troops together and told them of Villafana's 
plot and of its detection. 

"Villafana made no confession," Cortes ended. "His 
guilty secret perished with him. No one else is impli- 
cated. I am cut to the heart that there should be any 
one in our ranks capable of so base an act, for I know 
not what cause I have given for it. I am not conscious 
of having wronged any individual among you, but if I 
have, frankly declare your wrongs now, for I am anxious 
to afford you all the redress in my power." 

There was not one who had a complaint to make; 
Cortes' friends were indignant at the plot, and those con- 
cerned in it were so relieved not to be discovered that 
their protestations of loyalty were loudest of all. That 
was the end of the affair, for Cortes never mentioned it 
again, though he kept a strict eye on those who had 
been involved. They, in their desire to prove how 
friendly they were, became for the time the best soldiers 
in camp. 



278 THE BOYS' PRESCOTT 

Cortes' captains insisted that he should hereafter have 
a bodyguard and Antonio Quinones was appointed its 
captain. This guard watched over Cortes day and night 
to protect him from both secret and open enemies. 

Cortes immediately turned his attention to his new 
fleet and to the canal that was to carry the ships from 
Tezcuco to the lake. It was a mile and a half long and 
twelve feet broad and its sides were made strong with 
stones and cement. It had taken the eight thousand In- 
dians two months to build it. 

The opening of the canal Cortes made into a great 
event. On April 28, 1521, the troops under arms and 
all the population of Tezcuco assembled to witness the 
ceremony. Father Olmedo said mass and asked God's 
blessing on the little navy about to be launched. Then, 
midst martial music, a cannon was fired, and the first 
vessel with the flag of Spain floating from its mast slid 
down into the water, followed by the next and the next, 
till the thirteen ships were afloat. The music rose 
louder, the artillery on the shore fired salutes and the 
ships answered, while from all the spectators rang shouts 
of joy, which suddenly, by common consent, changed 
into the swelling notes of the Te Deum. 

His fleet ready, Cortes reviewed his army. It was 
larger and better equipped than ever before. There 
were eighty-seven horse, eight hundred and eighteen 
foot — of which a hundred and eighteen were arquebusi- 
ers and crossbow-men — three large iron guns and fifteen 
smaller brass guns, and a good supply of powder, baUs, 
shot and copperheaded arrows. 

Cortes was ready now for his Indian allies. He sent 
word for the Indians of the Chalcan league to assemble 
at Chalco and for the Tlascalans to come to Tezcuco. 



CORTES PLANS HIS BLOCKADE 279 

There came at once, under Xicotencatl and Chiche- 
mecatl, five hundred thousand Tlascalans, banners fly- 
ing and music playing as they marched into Tezcuco 
with as even and steady a step as if they were already 
going to battle, while the city rang with the cry "Castile 
and Tlascala!" 

Unfortunately the harmony was soon disturbed. A 
Spanish soldier got into a brawl with a Tlascalan chief 
and the chief was badly hurt. He was a relative of 
Xicotencatl who, in spite of fighting on their side, still 
hated the white men. He at once assembled his fol- 
lowers and, deserting his post, set out for Tlascala. 

Chichemecatl told Cortes that Xicotencatl was gone, 
and Cortes sent after him a party of Spaniards and 
Tlascalans to urge the chief to come back to his post. 
They overtook him before he had gone far. 

"Return to your duty," urged the messengers. "The 
Tlascalans are steady friends of the white men. Your 
own father is their friend." 

"So much the worse," Xicotencatl answered. "If 
Tlascala had taken my counsel, it would never have been 
the dupe of perfidious strangers." 

Every plea Xicotencatl answered with taunts, and 
finally the envoys went back to Cortes. 

"Xicotencatl," Cortes said when he heard the journey 
had been in vain, "has always been an enemy of the 
Spaniards, first in the field, and since in the council- 
chamber; openly or in secret, still the same — ^their im- 
placable enem}\ There is no use in parleying with the 
false-hearted Indian." 

The general sent another body of men after Xicoten- 
catl to arrest him wherever he was found — even in the 
streets of Tlascala — and to bring him back to Tezcuco. 



280 THE BOYS' PRESCOTT 

Cortes sent also to the council of Tlascala the stern mes- 
sage that the Spaniards punished desertion with death. 
Xicotencatl was arrested, brought back to Tezcuco, and 
hanged on a gallows erected in the central square. His 
property was confiscated to the Spanish crown. His 
countrymen mourned him, but they did not deny the 
justice of his punishment. 

After this lesson in constancy to his allies, Cortes was 
finally ready to carry out the plans which he had formed 
in his journey round Tezcuco Lake, when he had seen 
that the mainland ends of the great causeways were the 
points to hold if he wished to blockade the City of 
Mexico, for holding those, he could, with the help of his 
fleet, entirely cut off supplies from the city. Moreover, 
when he wanted to enter Tenochtitlan, his rear would be 
secure, while three bodies of troops could, by the great 
avenues, advance simultaneously to the center of the city. 

Alvarado with thirty horse, a hundred and sixty-eight 
foot and twenty-five thousand Tlascalans was sent to 
command the causeway of Tlacopan. Olid, with an 
army of the same size, was to hold the town of Cojo- 
huacan, the base of the short dyke which joined the 
causeway of Iztapalapan at Fort Xoloc. When they 
had secured their positions they were to take Chapolte- 
pec and destroy the reservoir that supplied Tenochtitlan 
with water. Sandoval, with a like army and the addi- 
tion of levies from the Chalcan league, was first to de- 
stroy the city of Iztapalapan — that it should not be left 
to harass their rear — and then to take up his position 
at the head of the north causeway. With their duties 
thus assigned, they set out. Sandoval took the southern 
route and Alvarado and Olid went by the northern. 

Except for a quarrel as to their quarters between Al- 



CORTES PLANS HIS BLOCKADE 281 

varado and Olid, nothing occurred on the march around 
the north side of the lake. The cities were deserted as 
they had sent all their inhabitants to protect the capital. 
Alvarado took up his quarters in Tlacopan, while Olid 
occupied Cojohuacan, six miles away. As soon as they 
were settled, they joined forces to attack the water sup- 
ply of Chapoltepec. 

There was a large body of Aztecs guarding the aque- 
duct and it cost the Spaniards a tremendous struggle to 
drive the Indians off. They did rout them, however, 
finally, and broke up the brick and stone work of the 
aqueduct so that no water could flow through it into 
Mexico. 

Sandoval with his men struck off, in the meantime, 
to the south to Chalco. Here his allies joined him and 
the army went on undisturbed to Iztapalapan. Before 
the city there was drawn up a large troop of Aztecs to 
whom Sandoval gave battle. After a fierce conflict, the 
Aztecs gave way and, jumping into the canal and the 
lake, escaped. This task accomplished, Sandoval went 
on to occupy his position at Tepejacac. 

In the meantime Alvarado in Tlacopan called on Olid 
to j oin him in an attempt to seize the first bridge on the 
Tlacopan causeway. Olid objected. In his quarrel 
with Alvarado he had yielded to Cortes' arguments — 
that in such a strait as the Spaniards were in, for their 
general's sake and for the cause's sake, he and Alvarado 
must make up any difference between them. But 
though he had outwardly reconciled himself to Alvarado, 
he had not forgiven him, and the two did not work well 
together. 

He obeyed Alvarado's call grudgingly, and brought 
his troops to the Tlacopan dyke, which was swarming 



282 THE BOYS' PRESCOTT 

with Aztec warriors as thickly as on the "melancholy 
night." The Christians made slow progress against so 
strong a foe, protected by barricades and aided by com- 
panions in canoes. The savages in canoes had built bul- 
warks on the sides to protect themselves from the white 
men's fire, and the savages on the dyke when they were 
hard pushed leaped into the water, swam a few yards 
and then climbed back on the causeway, ready for an- 
other assault. After a long, ineffectual struggle the 
Spaniards gave up and fell back on Tlacopan. 

Olid in disgust, laying all the blame of the failure on 
Alvarado, took up his quarters in Cojohuacan. 

And this is the last we hear of Olid's accomplishments. 
He does not enter the story of the siege of Mexico. In 
Cojohuacan he sulked and cherished his grudge against 
Alvarado, until finally it grew into a grudge against 
Cortes as well, which ended four years later in open re- 
volt against his general. 

When a man begins to think more of his own hurt feel- 
ings than of the cause he serves, he is apt to stain his rep- 
utation. Loyalty to a cause means f orgetfulness of self. 



CHAPTER XXXIV 

CORTES BESIEGES TENOCHTITLAN 
1521 

WHEN Cortes had sent off the three divisions 
of his army who were to blockade the City of 
Mexico, he followed across the lake as ad- 
miral of the fleet which he called "the key of the war." 
There were twelve vessels — one of the thirteen had been 
found a bad sailer — each carrying a heavy gun. Their 
crews numbered three hundred Spaniards, half sailors 
and half marines. Cortes had picked out for this serv- 
ice men who had been brought up on the seacoast in 
Spain, although some of them were nobles and did not 
much relish what they considered menial occupation. 

As the fleet approached the southern shore of the lake, 
it passed under a high precipice held by the Aztecs, who 
rained down such a shower of stones and arrows on the 
vessels that Cortes ordered his marines ashore to storm 
the place. With their admiral at their head, they drove 
all before them and utterly destroyed the Aztec garri- 
son. 

But in the meantime the beacon blazing on top of the 
hill already told the Mexicans that the Spanish fleet was 
afloat. As the men regained their vessels, they saw the 
water before them dark with hundreds of Indian canoes 
paddling from the City of Mexico across the lake to at- 
tack the brigantines. 

Just then the wind dropped. To Cortes it meant 
calamity, for he knew that if he lost his first sea fight, the 
Indians would lose their av/e of his "water-houses." 

283 



284 THE BOYS' PRESCOTT 

There was nothing to do, however, but to await calmly 
the attack of the savages. 

The canoes came on until, just out of range, they 
halted and lay on their oars as if debating what to do 
next. While they waited, the surface of the lake 
rippled again and Cortes' heart leaped with joy. 

"The wind!" he cried. "The saints are helping us." 

He drew his ships out in line of battle. The rising 
breeze caught the sails and carried the squadron swiftly 
across the lake to the fleet of Indian canoes. It rammed 
them, tossed them, overturned them, while the big guns 
volleyed right and left. The canoes which were unhurt 
paddled in terror back to the city to escape the fearful 
white-winged birds of the Spaniards, who made the wind 
their servant and the thunder and lightning their execu- 
tioners. 

Elated with his victory, Cortes went on his way and 
arrived at Fort Xoloc, where he knew the dyke from 
Olid's position at Cojohuacan joined the main causeway 
of Iztapalapan. The fort, consisting of two stone tow- 
ers surrounded by stone walls, was garrisoned by Aztecs. 
The marines easily dislodged them and Cortes, bringing 
ashore some of the guns, occupied the place. Here he 
not only held the causeway but was in touch with his 
fleet and through Olid could be well supplied with pro- 
visions. 

Thus, before they knew it, the Aztecs were in a state 
of siege. Cortes' fleet commanded the lake east of the 
great causeway, and his armies held the entrances to the 
three causeways. When Guatemozin saw the Spaniards 
entrenched in the places he should have had the foresight 
to occupy, he made frantic endeavors to drive them out, 
making his attacks on land and sea even by night, con- 
trary to Indian practise 



CORTES BESIEGES TENOCHTITLAN 285 

The brigantines successfully protected the eastern side 
of the dyke, but the western side was unmercifully har- 
assed b}^ the Indian attacks, until the Spaniards made a 
breach in the causeway and took two of the smaller ships 
into the basin on the west side in the very face of the 
savages, who yelled and shot arrows so thickly that they 
hid the ground where they lay. 

And so the siege of Tenochtitlan was fairly on, and 
Cortes was ready to push it closer. He sent word to 
Alvarado and Sandoval in their positions that they 
should, on the day Cortes named, try to enter the capi- 
tal over their causeways while Cortes advanced along the 
dyke of Iztapalapan. 

The day came. At early dawn Cortes' soldiers gath- 
ered to hear mass and then, with their general at their 
head, they advanced along the dyke of Iztapalapan from 
Xoloc toward the city. Before they had gone far they 
came upon a broken bridge and, on the far side of the 
gap in the causeway, a solid barricade of masonry, 
which protected the Aztecs drawn up behind it. 

The musketeers and crossbow-men tried in vain to 
drive the Indians back. Finally Cortes gave up that at- 
tempt and ordered two ships, one on each side of the 
causeway, to anchor opposite the Indian barricade and 
open fire. That drove the enemj'- from their stand and 
they fell back to the next breach in the dyke, which they 
held until the ships again drove them out. The Spanish 
van swam the gaps in the causeway and pursued the 
Aztecs as they fled. The rear stayed behind to fill up 
the breaches with the stones of the barricades. 

Finally, when Cortes had pushed the Indians back 
into the city along the great avenue which led to the cen- 
tral square, he halted for his rear to come up, that they 
might destroy the houses along the avenue and secure 



286 THE BOYS' PRESCOTT 

the Spaniards a safe line of retreat. When that was 
done, Cortes pressed on, and the Indians fell back before 
him. One more broken bridge and stone barricade the 
Spaniards cleared with their cannon, swam the shallow 
water of the canal, and found themselves in the great 
square of Tenochtitlan. 

For a moment they halted, dazed at their recollections. 
There was the huge temple in the center and, facing it, 
Axayacatl's palace, which they had entered with pride, 
lived in in peace and comfort, and from which they had 
fled in terror. The past seemed almost a dream. 

"St. Jago and at them!" Cortes cried, and charged 
the enemy across the square. 

The Aztecs, also remembering the past, and over- 
whelmed at the return of the white men whom they had 
once so triumphantly driven out, fell back without re- 
sistance into the temple courtyard. From the terraces 
the chanting Indian priests urged the warriors to cour- 
age. 

The Spaniards rushed into the temple courtyard and 
some were bold enough to ascend the steps to the temple 
area where, in his sanctuary, they found a new image 
of the war god. They hurled over the side of the tem- 
ple the priests who would have defended it and tore 
away the gold and jewels that adorned Huitzilopotchli. 

Hundreds of Aztec eyes had watched this new insult 
to their god, and as the rash Spaniards came down again 
into the courtyard, there were hundreds of fierce Aztec 
arms eager for revenge. In a mass they threw them- 
selves on the Spaniards and drove them into the square, 
where thej?- were caught by new bodies of Indians pour- 
ing in from the side streets. 

Utterly losing their coolness and courage, the Span- 
iards left their cannon in the square and fled back to- 




"The army was pursued all the way by howling Aztecs" 

—Page 287 



CORTES BESIEGES TENOCHTITLAN 287 

wards the causeway. Cortes' efforts to rally them were 
in vain; they met their advancing allies and communi- 
cated their terror to them, till the retreat became noth- 
ing but a panic-stricken stampede. 

When it seemed as if all was lost, help came. A body 
of cavalry dashed through a side street and boldly charg- 
ing the enemy, turned it once more. Cortes made his 
voice heard finally to reassure his frightened troops who, 
ashamed of their wild flight, returned to order and drove 
the Aztecs once more into the temple courtyard. 

As it was growing dark, Cortes attempted nothing 
more. He recovered the cannon from the square and 
then sounded a retreat, the allies in the van, the infan- 
try in the center and the cavalry in the rear. The army 
was pursued all the way by howling Aztecs disappointed 
of their revenge, but late at night the Spaniards reached 
Xoloc. 

Alvarado and Sandoval had made their attempt to 
enter the city over their causewa}''s, but, having no ships 
to help them, they had not been able to pass the barri- 
cades at the breaches. Cortes now sent half the fleet 
to his two generals along with one-third of the fifty 
thousand Tlascalans whom Ixtlilzochitl had led into 
camp. 

Cortes' attack on Tenochtitlan had not only caused 
terror to the Aztecs, but had also convinced several out- 
lying tribes that Cortes would prove a better friend than 
Guatemozin. They all offered him recruits. Cortes 
did not need more fighting men for his ranks were full, 
but it was most reassuring to have behind him, instead of 
enemies, friends whom he could use to keep peace in the 
outlying country and to send food into camp. 

Before the INIexicans could recover from that attack, 
Cortes made a second, thinking; that, as he had filled up 



288 THE BOYS' PRESCOTT 

all the breaches in the causeway, he should have easy en- 
trance into the city. But he found that each breach had 
been opened again. However, with the help of cannon 
and ships, he once more pushed his way across and en- 
tered the city. This time he burned the palace of Axay- 
acatl which had so long been the Spaniard's home. 

On the following days, time after time, Cortes forced 
his way into the city, always finding the gaps he filled 
up one day broken open the next. He even got a little 
way down the dyke of Tlacopan once, hoping to get into 
communication with Alvarado. But there were too 
many broken bridges in his way and he did not get far. 

Guatemozin, in the meantime, was not idle. His 
beacon fires burned and the melancholy drum in the 
great temple boomed to call to attack, not only his sub- 
jects in the city, but those tribes outside who were still 
his friends. While Guatemozin had friends outside, 
their canoes managed to run the blockade of the brigan- 
tines and bring in provisions by night. But as the out- 
lying tribes fell away, Tenochtitlan began to suffer. 
Guatemozin made many fierce attacks on the three 
Christian camps at the ends of the causeways, but he was 
always driven back. 

Cortes sent many messages of peace to Guatemozin, 
hoping against hope that the young Emperor would 
capitulate and so save his city from destruction. But 
Guatemozin did not falter. He saw his enemies encom- 
passing him, his vassals falling away, his city destroj^ed 
by fire, famine coming near, but he sent no word of 
yielding to Cortes. To all Cortes' offers of peace there 
came no answer except scornful silence. Guatemozin 
had sworn an oath of undying hatred to the Spaniards. 
Come what might, he would ask no mercy at their hands. 



CHAPTER XXXV 

THE LAST ASSAULT 
1521 

THE rainy season had set in and Cortes found it 
necessary to provide better shelter for his troops. 
The brigantines brought to Xoloc timber and 
stone from the houses destroyed in Tenoehtitlan, and the 
Indian alHes built two rows of huts facing each other on 
opposite sides of the dyke behind the ramparts of the 
fort. The causeway was so wide here that, after the 
barracks were finished, there was plenty of room for the 
army to march between them. 

The soldiers gumbled at the cold, rainy weather, es- 
pecially Alvarado's men, who were obliged to mount 
guard over each new breach he filled in the causeway, 
lest the Aztecs should tear it open again. Cortes' new 
arrivals had little more patience ; they were eager for im- 
mediate action of some kind. Alderete, the royal treas- 
urer, who had lately joined Cortes, thought it was time 
to press further into the city and take up a position 
there. 

Several of Cortes' captains backed Alderete in this 
opinion. Cortes finally yielded to their eagerness, al- 
though to his mind they were not yet ready for the step. 
The place chosen for their new camp was the market of 
Tlatelolco. 

Cortes sent word to Sandoval to leave only enough 
men at Tepejacac to hold the place, to send seventy 

289 



290 THE BOYS' PRESCOTT 

picked men to Xoloe and, with the remainder of his 
force, to join Alvarado at Tlacopan on the appointed 
day and from there, protected by the brigantines, to ad- 
vance along the Tlacopan dyke to the market of Tlate- 
lolco, while his own troops took the road over the cause- 
way of Iztapalapan. Cortes' forces were to be escorted 
not only by the brigantines, but by a fleet of native 
canoes, which could enter canals too shallow for the ships 
and so penetrate into the city. 

On the day appointed Cortes gave his troops their 
directions. In the outskirts of Tenochtitlan there were 
three streets which led from the causeway of Iztapala- 
pan to the market-place of Tlatelolco — one main ave- 
nue with a narrower street each side. Cortes divided his 
army into three divisions; one, under Alderete, was to 
march through the chief avenue, which the canals on 
each side of it made really into a causeway; the second 
division, under Tapia and a younger brother of Al- 
varado, was to march through one of the smaller paral- 
lel streets; while Cortes' own division would take the 
third street. Where the avenue of Tlacopan came into 
the market-place, there were to be stationed a small body 
of men with three guns. This was to be the rendezvous 
in case of disaster. 

Cortes' last word to his officers was a warning to cover 
their line of retreat. He reminded them of the many 
calamities which had come to them through the breaches 
in the dykes and commanded them not to leave behind 
them one unfilled gap to be their destruction in case of 
sudden falling back. 

Cortes' army started off gaily from Xoloc. Each 
division, eager to be first in the market-place and to dis- 
tinguish itself in the day's work, passed without much 



THE LAST ASSAULT 291 

trouble along the causeway and into the outskirts of the 
city. Alderete marched confidently down the main ave- 
nue while Cortes and Tapia took the parallel streets. 

Cortes went slowly, looking out for ambush and filling 
up the breaches in the canals, while the Tlascalans clam- 
bered to the fiat roofs of the houses that lined the street 
and engaged in hand to hand confiict the warriors sta- 
tioned there. From the other streets Cortes, as he lis- 
tened, heard the victorious shouts of the Spaniards and 
began to think their quick victory suspicious. Were the 
enemy drawing the white men into the heart of the city 
to surround them? 

Alderete sent to Cortes one messenger after another 
to say he was almost at the market-place. Halting his 
own. men, with a small body to accompany him Cortes 
w^ent through to the main street to see what Alderete was 
about and make sure that he had left a clear line of re- 
treat. 

The little company had not gone far along the cause- 
way-avenue when they came to a strip of water thirty- 
five feet wide. A few stones had been tumbled into the 
hole, but it still yawned like a trap across the line of 
march. Every man in Alderete's command had been 
more anxious to win glory by being first at the goal than 
to provide means of escape. Each cavalier had said to 
his neighbor, "You stay and fill up the hole," and all 
had rushed ahead and left the breach to take care of it- 
self. Cortes saw, too, that the sides of the dyke had been 
recently sloped off to make them slippery and danger- 
ous. 

Filled with alarm, he at once set his men to filling up 
the gap. They had scarcely got to work when, from 
the city beyond, there came the first long, piercing note 



292 .THE BOYS' PRESCOTT 

of Guatemozin's sacred horn — ^blown only on great oc- 
casions — and then a horrible mingling of yells and war 
whoops from thousands of throats. Next came the rush 
of countless feet as the tide of battle rolled back along 
the avenue. 

Cortes on one side of the breach saw the Spaniards 
flying toward him along the causeway-avenue on the 
other side, pursued by thousands of Aztecs who, at the 
sound of Guatemozin's horn, had ended their pretended 
flight and turned on their pursuers, while countless 
others had poured in on their flanks from side streets. 
They came on now in an indistinguishable mass of friend 
and foe, dealing blows at random as they ran, stagger- 
ing, slipping, treading down each other, struck by the 
arrows from the housetops, and all the time in their 
bhnd terror coming nearer to the wide gap which they 
had not stayed to fill. 

Cortes watched them helplessly as they came to the 
edge of the gulf and plunged over ; those in front pushed 
by the mad fright of those behind. Of those who swam 
across, some Cortes' company pulled up as they tried to 
climb the slippery bank of the dyke, others were 
drowned, and still others were seized by the warriors and 
carried off captives. Those who were saved were still 
too distracted to listen to orders. 

Finally the Aztecs, growing bolder, with a cry of 
"Malinche," sprang from their canoes to seize the gen- 
eral himself. Six sinewy Aztecs grasped him and hur- 
ried him to their boat. Christoval de Olea gave up his 
life to save his general, but he killed two Aztecs first. 
Another Spaniard and a Tlascalan, fighting across 
Cortes' prostrate body, flung themselves on the Aztecs 
and held them off till Quinones, the captain of the body- 




'Cortes watched them helplessly" — Page 292 



THE LAST ASSAULT 293 

guard, came to the rescue and freed Cortes. Guzman, 
Cortes' servant, brought his horse and just as his master 
mounted it, Guzman himself was snatched away and 
thrown into a canoe. 

Cortes could not be persuaded to leave the spot until 
Quinones seized his bridle and led him away by force, 
saying, "My master's life is too important to the army to 
be thrown away here." 

The causeway had been so cut up by the confused 
struggle that it was now Imee-deep in mud and its edges 
slippery as ice. Many of those who had swum the 
breach were now pushed back into the water over the 
sides of the dyke by their crazed comrades in their ef- 
forts to escape. Corral, the ensign, who had lost his 
banner in the Cordilleras, slipped into the canal, but just 
as the enemy was about to pounce upon him, he 
scrambled again up the dyke with the Spanish banner 
still flying. 

Cortes finally got the men who were left off the slip- 
pery causeway and into the open place in the Tlacopan 
avenue where the guns had been placed. Here, in spite 
of the enemy's fire, he brought some order into his ranks, 
and by a cavalry charge beat back the Aztecs. Then he 
sounded the retreat for the other two divisions, which 
fought their way to the rendezvous. Sending the allies 
first, the infantry next and guarding the rear with the 
cavalry, Cortes got his broken army back to Xoloc. At 
once he sent Tapia to assure Alvarado of his safety. 

Alvarado and Sandoval, along the Tlacopan dyke, had 
almost reached the market when they heard the dreaded 
sound of Guatemozin's horn and the Aztec war whoop. 
They paused, knowing that their comrades had not pros- 
pered, and while they waited, the Aztecs, driven back by 



294 THE BOYS' PRESCOTT 

Cortes' cavalry charge, turned against Alvarado's com- 
mand, shouting as they came "Mahnche! Malinche!" 

Alvarado, deeply anxious as to Cortes' fate, sounded 
a retreat. The Indians followed the Spaniards back 
across the Tlacopan causeway until they reached the 
brigantines, whose guns drove them back once more into 
the city. 

Tapia had been delayed by Indian bands on his way 
to Tlacopan, and both Alvarado and Sandoval grew wor- 
ried and anxious at not hearing from Cortes. At last 
Sandoval could stand it no longer. He remounted his 
tired horse and galloped off to Xoloc. 

He found the camp very sad. Besides the loss of two 
guns and seven horses, the many killed and the more 
wounded, sixty-two Spaniards had fallen alive into the 
Aztec's hands, and all the white men knew what horror 
that meant. Cortes did his best to keep up his men's 
spirits, but in spite of his outer cheerfulness the affair of 
"the sorrowful bridge," as he called it, lay heavily at his 
heart. 

"It is for my sins. Son Sandoval," Cortes said. "For 
a few days I must rest and you must take my place, as 
I am too crippled at present to discharge my duties. 
You must watch over the safety of the camps. Give 
special heed to Alvarado's. He is a gallant soldier; 
I know it well; but I doubt the Mexican hounds may 
sometime take him at disadvantage." 

And these few words show that although Cortes relied 
on Alvarado's courage as much as on Sandoval's, it was 
on Sandoval he depended for coolness and wisdom. 

Sandoval received his instructions and set out on his 
way back to Tlacopan. It was late afternoon when he 
reached camp ; the warm sun flooded the fertile valley of 



THE LAST ASSAULT 295 

^lexico and glittered on the towers of Tenochtitlan. 
Suddenly, through the quiet Spring afternoon, there 
came to the soldiers' ears a sound that struck terror to 
their souls, as it had on "the melancholy night." The 
great drum boomed forth from the temple. 

The camp was only a mile now from the city, and 
the soldiers could plainly see the huge temple and the 
procession wind up its sides along the terraces. It was a 
procession of Indian priests leading their victims to sac- 
rifice, and some of the captives were white. 

The next few days were sad and quiet in the Spanish 
camps, but times of feasting and rejoicing and sacri- 
ficing for the Aztecs. The Indian priests extolled Gua- 
temozin as the hero of his country, and once more Gua- 
temozin's vassals around the valley began to think of 
him as their Emperor. 

Then he sent his messengers through the country call- 
ing the tribes back to their allegiance. They listened 
and hesitated, for it was not Guatemozin alone who 
called, but the priests as well, and the Aztecs reverenced 
their priests almost as much as the Emperor. 

And then the priests published their great proclama- 
tion which stirred to the depths the hearts of Guatemo- 
zin's vassals. This was the proclamation: 

"Huitzilopotchli, your deity^ insulted by the white 
men, is now appeased by the sacrifice of Malinche's fol- 
lowers upon his altars. He has again taken the Aztecs 
under his protection. Before eight daj'-s are gone he 
will dehver your enemies into your hands," 




CHAPTER XXXVI 

THE CONQUEST OF MEXICO 

1521 

|HE Aztecs thundered this proclamation far and 
wide. The Christians laughed at it, but more 
and more the Indians trembled. Suppose it 
were true; suppose they had offended the war god by 
helping the white men; was Xicotencatl right when he 
had said that only evil could come to Anahuac from these 
strangers? Emperor and priests and war gods were 
willing now to overlook the past, if their vassals re- 
turned to their duty. Should they lose their chance of 
pardon by still helping the invaders? 

Cortes soon saw the result of such reasoning. Every 
night some of his allies deserted and stole away in the 
darkness to their own homes. First those who lived 
nearest went; the Tepeacans followed, and the Cholu- 
lans, and finally — though Ixtlilzochitl, lord of Tezcuco, 
and Chichemecatl, leader of the Tlascalan levies, re- 
mained loyal to Cortes — even the Tezcucans and Tlas- 
calans stole away. With dismay the Spaniards saw 
their huge army of allies melt like snow in April, leaving 
the white men almost alone to blockade Mexico. 

Cortes did not lose his cheerful courage. He laughed 
at the proclamation and sent messengers after the with- 
drawing allies to advise them to camp on their way until 
the eight days were over and the prediction should be 
proved false. Some were wise enough to take this ad- 

296 



THE CONQUEST OF MEXICO 297 

vice and to halt where they were, but the rest kept on 
home. 

Of course this defection stopped the supply which had 
been coming in so plentifully from the surrounding 
country. The Spaniards must now not only do their 
own foraging for provisions, but at the same time keep 
untiring watch against an unfriendly country behind 
them and a deadly foe in front. Their guns com- 
manded each of the three causeways leading into the City 
of JNIexico and their brigantines still controlled the lake, 
so their position was strong as long as they could hold 
it. Lack of food and lack of ammunition alone could 
drive them out. Unfortunately their ammunition was 
getting loYi. 

The Spaniards waited with what patience they might 
through the eight days. On the ninth day the sun rose, 
passed across the heavens and set in the west, while all 
Mexico, hour after hour, looked eagerly for the prophecy 
to be fulfilled. Nothing happened. 

The priests would have been wiser to set their time at 
eight weeks instead of eight days. In that interval the 
alKes might have returned definitely to Aztec rule, and 
the Spaniards would surely have run short of food and 
ammunition of which they had only a small supply. As 
it was, they had easily maintained themselves a week, 
and at the end of it, a ship sailing into Vera Cruz brought 
more ammunition and military stores, which were at once 
sent to Xoloc. The deserting allies, too, had loitered 
on the road to see what would happen, and when Ixtli- 
Izochitl and Chichemecatl sent after them, they came 
back with all speed to the Christians' camp, ashamed to 
have been deceived by the priests and glad enough to be 
so easily forgiven by Cortes for their desertion. Gradu- 



298 THE BOYS' PRESCOTT 

ally all the other tribes came back to beg Cortes' for- 
giveness and to return to their loyalty. Guatemozin's 
power over them was gone forever. Instead of hurting 
Cortes by his scheme, he had increased Cortes' power. 

Cortes knew that now the time had come to push his 
way into Tenochtitlan, although sadly he was aware that 
that meant the city's ruin ; the fortress-houses must come 
down and the canals be filled up ; on this advance there 
was to be left absolutely no danger of obstacle between 
himself and the mainland. "Every breach in the cause- 
way, every canal in the streets was to be filled up in so 
solid a manner, that the work should not again be dis- 
turbed. The materials for this were to be furnished by 
the buildings, every one of which, as the army advanced, 
whether public or private, hut, temple or palace, was to 
be demolished. Not a building in their path was to be 
spared. They were all indiscriminately to be leveled, 
until, in the Conqueror's owa language, 'the water 
should be converted into dry land,' and a smooth and 
open ground be afforded for the maneuvers of the cav- 
alry and artillery." (Prescott's "Conquest of Mexico.") 

Cortes had tried over and over, with no success, to ar- 
range with Guatemozin for a capitulation. Nothing 
was left him now but to destroy the city that was to 
Cortes "the most beautiful thing in the world." The 
Indian allies, glad to prove their good-will after their 
disloyalty, brought their hoes and other tools and fell to 
work filling up the gaps in the causeways, while others 
pushed on into the outskirts of the city and, in spite of 
Aztec arrows, pulled down the houses and with the debris 
filled in the city canals, until Tenochtitlan was no longer 
an Indian Venice but only a bare, flat plain over which 
the Spanish cavalry could sweep at will. 



THE CONQUEST OF MEXICO 299 

Before the work was accomplished, Cortes sent three 
Aztec nobles as another embassy to Guatemozin. 

"All has now been done," he said, "that brave men 
could do in defense of their country. There remains no 
hope, no chance of escape, for the Mexicans. Your pro- 
visions are exhausted; your communications are cut off; 
your vassals have deserted you ; even your gods have be- 
trayed you. You stand alone, with the nations of Ana- 
huac banded against you. There is no hope but in im- 
mediate surrender. I beseech you to take compassion 
on your brave subjects, who are daily perishing before 
your eyes ; and on the fair city, whose stately buildings 
are fast crumbling into ruins. Return to the allegiance 
that you once proffered to the sovereign of Castile. The 
past shall be forgotten. The persons and property, in 
short all the rights of the Aztecs shall be respected. 
You shall be confirmed in your authority, and Spain 
will once more take your city under her protection." 

Guatemozin heard the messengers with anger, but 
nevertheless he called a council of priests and warriors 
to debate it. The priests were against peace, for they 
knew that the estabhshment of Christianity meant their 
downfall. 

"Better," they said, "to trust in the promises of our 
own gods, who have so long watched over the nation. 
Better, if need be, give up our lives at once for our 
country, than drag them out in slavery and suffering 
among the false strangers." 

"Since it is so," Guatemozin answered proudly, "let 
us think only of supplying the wants of the people. Let 
no man, henceforth, who values his Hfe, talk of sur- 
render. We can at least die like warriors." 

For two days Cortes waited for an answer to his words 



300 THE BOYS' PRESCOTT 

of peace. It came finally, not by the envoys, but in a 
simultaneous assault on all the Christian camps over the 
causeways. Much as the numbers of Aztecs had been 
reduced by famine, and weak as were the warriors who 
remained, they came with tremendous fury. But, raked 
by the Spanish guns from the forts and from the vessels, 
the Indian hordes rolled suddenly back to their capital, 
having accomphshed nothing. 

After this fruitless effort for peace, Cortes pushed on 
his work of destruction, until the clearing in the city ex- 
tended to the point where the Avenue of Tlacopan en- 
tered the central square. Montezuma's palace — ^now 
occupied by Guatemozin — was destroyed, and the Mex- 
icans, driven out of the heart of Tenochtitlan, fell back 
to Tlatelolco, the market-place, which they occupied. 
They had left to them now only about one-eighth of their 
city, and as they were cut off from supplies, they might 
as well have been on a desert island. There was noth- 
ing before them but surrender or starvation. 

The weeks went on, each one seeing the Aztecs a little 
weaker, and Cortes on his side, and Alvarado on his, a 
little nearer the market-place. At last only one broad 
canal lay between Cortes and Tlatelolco ; he had no way 
of finding out how far Alvarado had come. 

All the strength left to the Aztecs was gathered in the 
market-place to guard the canal which was their last 
defense. The Spaniards, on the other side, made camp 
for the night. 

Suddenly through the darkness flames leaped up from 
a temple in the northern part of Tlatelolco. The Chris- 
tians, watching, shuddered, thinking it meant human sac- 
rifice and the suffering of some of their unfortunate com- 
rades. But as the flames leaped higher, some one caught 



THE CONQUEST OF MEXICO 301 

at the truth, for it was the temple itself that was burn- 
ing. 

" Alvarado has taken the temple ; he is in the citj^," he 
shouted. 

It was true. Alvarado, pushing along the Tlacopan 
dyke, and filling up the breaches as he came with the 
stones from the houses he destroyed, had at last reached 
the temple in the market-place. It was defended by a 
band of fierce priests and warriors, who rushed down 
Lhe steps on the Christians and almost overwhelmed 
them. The Spaniards pushed them back and drove 
them up the stairs again to the temple area where, in mid- 
air, a battle was fought like that which had been carried 
on in the storming of the great temple. Here again the 
white men were victorious. 

In the sanctuaries before the grinning idols the 
Spaniards found the heads of some of their companions 
taken by the Aztecs in battle. They were removed for 
Christian burial and the Spaniards, maddened at the 
sight, set fire to the sanctuaries with all their abomina- 
tions. The flames rose as a beacon to the whole valley, 
telling both friend and foe of the progress of the Chris- 
tian arms. 

Cortes, seeing that Alvarado had come so far, deter- 
mined to push across the canal to join him in the market- 
place. At once, in spite of Indian arrows from the 
other side, Cortes set his allies vigorously at work filling 
up the canal. When it was done, the cavalry charged 
across, swept the enemy out of their path, and pressed 
on to meet Alvarado's men. 

It was the first time the two divisions had come to- 
gether since the siege began. ^Hien the first glad wel- 
comes were over, Cortes, with a small band, rode into 



302 THE BOYS' PRESCOTT 

the market-place which he had seen with such interest on 
his first visit to Mexico. Then it was filled with throngs 
of prosperous traffickers ; now the stalls were empty and 
the few people on the housetops were too weak with 
hunger to offer resistance. After a sad survey, Cortes 
sent the Spaniards back to their camps on the cause- 
ways. 

For several days he kept the Spaniards in camp and 
suspended hostilities, hoping that one of his embassies 
would come back with Guatemozin's submission. Cortes, 
while he waited, went often into the city. One day he 
met several chiefs, who stretched out their arms implor- 
ingly. 

"You are children of the Sun," they said. "But the 
Sun is swift in his course. Why are you, then, so tardy? 
Why do you delay so long to put an end to our miseries? 
Rather kill us at once, that we may go to our god 
Huitzilopochtli, who waits for us in heaven to give us 
rest from our sufferings." 

"I desire not your death, only your submission," an- 
swered Cortes pityingly. "Why does your master re- 
fuse to treat with me when a single hour will suffice for 
me to crush him and all his people? Implore your Em- 
peror to confer with me. I promise you he shall be 
safe." 

The nobles carried the message to Guatemozin, and 
at last he consented to a meeting the next day in the 
market-place. 

Cortes arranged a banquet to do honor to the mon- 
arch, and was at the market-place at the time named. 
But, in place of Guatemozin, came some of his nobles, 
saying their master was ill. Cortes covered his disap- 
pointment, fed the nobles, sent some provisions to their 



THE CONQUEST OF MEXICO 303 

friends, and dismissed them, telling them to beg Guate- 
mozin to meet him. 

"He will surely come," he said to the envoys, ''when he 
sees that I suffer you to go and come unharmed, you 
who have been my steady enemies, no less than himself, 
throughout the war. He has nothing to fear from me." 

Guatemozin set the time for his coming at noon the 
following day. Again Cortes was at the place, but Gua- 
temozin did not appear. Cortes waited in vain three 
hours, and then he heard that the Aztecs were taking 
the time to prepare to defend Tlatelolco. At that 
Cortes lost patience. 

He gave immediate orders for a general attack on 
the Aztec position. Alvarado was to advance along the 
Tlacopan dyke from the west; Sandoval was to come 
down from the north over the causeway of Tepejacac, 
while Cortes himself would march from Xoloc. He 
ordered that quarter should be given to the Aztecs when- 
ever asked. 

The Aztecs had no strength to withstand such a gen- 
eral attack, although they met it bravely with showers 
of arrows. The Spaniards were merciful, but the Tlas- 
calans thought only of revenge on a hated foe. Every 
one who came within their reach was killed, until even 
they finally grew weary of their own cruelty, and dark- 
ness ended the carnage. 

Perfect silence fell over Tlatelolco. Alvarado on his 
side, and Cortes on his, held their positions, while in the 
market-place those Aztecs who were left sat hopelessly 
waiting for what morning might bring them. They had 
lost home and wealth and friends. Life — all that re- 
mained to them — they would sell dearly. 

Morning dawned on the 13th of August, 1521; two 



304 THE BOYS' PRESCOTT 

years almost to a day since Cortes had marched from 
Cempoalla with his first army of invasion, and a year 
since he had flecj from Tenochtitlan on "the melancholy 
night." ' 

Cortes had made his plans. To Sandoval and his 
captains was given the task of preventing the escape of 
Guatemozin by land or by sea, while Cortes and Alva- 
rado, from opposite sides, swept clear the market-place. 
Their signal was to be the discharge of a gun. 

Then for the last time Cortes sent envoys to Guate- 
mozin to promise pardon if he would yield. 

"Guatemozin is ready to die where he is," was the re- 
ply that the envoy brought back, "but he will hold no 
interview with the Spanish general. It is for you to 
work your pleasure." 

"Go, then," Cortes answered sternly. "Prepare your 
countrymen for death. Their hour is come." 

Still he did not give the sign for attack — for he hoped 
against hope that puatemozin would surrender. 
Finally word came to him that Guatemozin was making 
his preparations to escape. Cortes could wait no longer ; 
if Guatemozin got away, the war might last for months. 

The musket was fired. Cortes and Alvarado charged, 
each from his side of the square. 

At the same moment the brigantines engaged the fleet 
of Aztec canoes on the lake. Their canvas outsailed the 
canoes and their guns shattered them; only a few got 
away and under the smoke from the guns made for shore. 

Garci Holguin, one of Sandoval's captains, com- 
manded the fastest brigantine in the fleet. As he peered 
through the smoke at the fleeing canoes he decided that 
Guatemozin was in one of them, racing for the main- 
land. Immediately he gave chase. 



\ 




'Fear not,' Cortes answered. 'A Spaniard knows how to respect 
valor even in an enemy' " — Page 305 



THE CONQUEST OF MEXICO 305 

There was plenty of wind and Holguin soon over- 
hauled the canoe, whose men were pulling with the wild- 
ness of despair. At the first shot from the brigantine the 
rowers threw up their hands. 

"We carry the Emperor," they cried. 

As they spoke, Guatemozin, armed, his head proudly 
erect, rose in the canoe. 

"I am Guatemozin," he exclaimed. "Lead me to 
Mahnche. I am his prisoner ; but let no harm come to my 
wife and my followers." 

They took him aboard the brigantine with his wife, 
who was the daughter of Montezuma. Holguin de- 
livered his prisoners to Sandoval, who prepared to es- 
cort them to Cortes. As soon as the news spread that the 
Emperor was taken, all resistance ceased on both sea 
and land. 

Cortes made ready properly to receive his royal pris- 
oner. He covered with crimson cloth a terrace in the 
market-place and ordered a banquet prepared. The 
Emperor was escorted to the spot by a company of Span- 
ish infantry, and Cortes received him with great cere- 
mony. 

Guatemozin spoke. "I have done all I could do to de- 
fend myself and mj^ people. I am now reduced to this 
state. You will deal with me, Malinche, as you list." 
He touched Cortes' dagger. "Better despatch me with 
this and rid me of life at once." 

"Fear not," Cortes answered, filled with admiration 
of Guatemozin's bravery. "You shall be treated with 
all honor. You have defended your capital like a brave 
warrior. A Spaniard knows how to respect valor even 
in an enemy." 

It was sunset when Guatemozin surrendered. Before 



306 THE BOYS' PRESCOTT 

the banquet was finished it was night and the rain began 
to fall. After the ceremonies were ended Cortes sent 
Guatemozin and the princess, his wife, to Cojohuacan 
to be under Olid's care. 

The escort moved away. The Spaniards obeyed their 
orders that each division should fall back to its former 
camp on the causeways. Tenochtitlan Was left to its 
ghastly quiet. 

We may be sure that Cortes did not sleep. His 
thoughts, doubtless, went back a year when, in the rain, 
at midnight, he had led his beaten army out of Tenoch- 
titlan; they probably went forward, too, to the time 
ahead when his quarrel with Velasquez should be over 
and Charles V should reward his achievement with 
princely rights in Anahauc ; when he should rebuild the 
city he had laid in ruins and make it again "the most 
beautiful thing in the world." 

And then, as he paced back and forth in his apart- 
ment, from the past and the future, his mind would come 
back to the present. Sad as he was for all the misery 
he had caused, his heart yet swelled in triumph for what 
he had accomplished. Years ago he had seen his vision 
and without faltering had followed it, through evil re- 
port and good report, through joy and through sorrow, 
for three long years. And now it was no longer a dream 
but a reality. Tenochtitlan had fallen. Gautemozin 
had surrendered. Cortes had conquered Mexico. 



THE END 






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